Jose Ortiz-Pagán

José Ortiz-Pagán is a Puerto Rican multidisciplinary artist, cultural organizer, and educator whose work bridges social practice, ritual, printmaking, and installation.

Rooted in community engagement and collective healing, Ortiz-Pagán’s practice explores migration, protection, memory, and cultural negotiation. Through participatory installations, gatherings, and print-based practices, he creates spaces that function as both artistic interventions and social rituals. His recent large-scale projects, including De Tierra a Estrellas / From Soil to Stars, reflect his ongoing interest in talismanic structures, ecological awareness, and diasporic identity.

Ortiz-Pagán’s contributions have been recognized with awards such as the PEW Fellowship in the Arts, the NALAC Catalyst for Change Fellowship, and the Artworks grant from the Philadelphia Foundation and Forman Arts Initiative. His work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Trienal Poligráfica (Puerto Rico), the International Printmaking Biennial (Taiwan), and the Bronx Latin American Biennial, among others.

Based in Philadelphia, Ortiz-Pagán continues to collaborate with local organizations and institutions, developing projects that honor histories of activism while imagining sustainable, community-centered futures.