Roberto Lugo | Learning From Performers Fall 2024
The Office for the Arts at Harvard welcomes artist, ceramicist, social activist, poet, and educator Roberto Lugo to campus November 17-18, 2024 as part of its Learning From Performers program. The schedule includes two hands-on-making events for Harvard College Undergrads, and a free public lecture presented in partnership with the Harvard Ed Portal. Register for each event separately below. Please contact Kathy King with questions.
Schedule
Sunday, November 17
3:00-5:00pm - Wheel-throwing demonstration and hands-on making event for Harvard College Undergrads at the Ceramics Program in Allston. Learn how to decorate a pre-thrown vessel with patterns and visual elements derived from streetwear. Open to all levels. Pizza will be served! Registration will open on September 18 at 2:00pm. Due to anticipated demand for this program, we ask that attendees register for just one making event.
Registration closed for Sunday 11/17 making event
Monday, November 18
1:00-3:00pm - Hands-on making event for Harvard College Undergrads at the Ceramics Program in Allston. Learn to create patterns inspired by your lived experiences and transfer them to a pre-made tile. Open to all levels. Cookies will be served! Registration will open on September 18 at 2:00pm. Due to anticipated demand for this program, we ask that attendees register for just one making event.
Registration closed for Monday 11/18 making event
5:00-7:00pm - Public lecture and reception at the Harvard Ed Portal in Allston. This event is free and open to the public, but advanced registration is required
Registration closed for Monday 11/18 Public Lecture
Artist Bio
Roberto Lugo is a Philadelphia-based artist, ceramicist, social activist, poet, and educator. Lugo utilizes classical pottery forms in conjunction with portraiture and surface design reminiscent of his North Philadelphia upbringing and Hip Hop culture to highlight themes of poverty, inequality, and racial injustice. Lugo’s works utilize traditional European and Asian ceramic techniques reimagined with a 21st-century street sensibility. Their hand-painted surfaces feature classic decorative patterns and motifs combined with elements of modern urban graffiti and portraits of individuals whose faces are historically absent on this type of luxury item - people like Sojourner Truth, Dr. Cornel West, and The Notorious BIG, as well as Lugo’s family members and, very often, himself. In addition to his studio practice, Lugo founded a design brand called Village Potter in 2021 and most recently collaborated with The Nuevolution Project to launch a collection at Walmart for Hispanic Heritage Month 2024. Lugo holds a BFA from the Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Penn State. His work has been featured in exhibitions at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York, among others. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including a 2023 Heinz Award, a Philadelphia’s Cultural Treasures award, a 2019 Pew Fellowship, a Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Rome Prize, and a US Artist Award. His work is found in the permanent collections of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The High Museum of Art, the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, the Brooklyn Museum, the Walters Art Museum, and more. www.robertolugostudio.com
Photo credits: Artist portrait: Photograph by Joe Kramm. Courtesy of R & Company. Artwork photos: Photographs by Logan Jackson. Courtesy of R & Company.