José Ruiz: Local Legends

Local Legends

May 5 – June 11, 2017

Kaplan Gallery, VisArts

Opening Reception and Artist Talk: Friday, May 12, 7 – 9 PM

Curated by José Ruiz, 2017 VisArts Mentoring Curator

VisArts presents Local Legends, a group exhibition that mines recent one-of-a-kind stories and offbeat folklore from Rockville to fantastical ends. A team of contemporary artists created newly commissioned artworks in response to a curated trove of published stories, oral histories, and documents developed by the exhibition’s research team. Local Legends is curated by our 2017 Mentoring Curator José Ruiz, as part of the VisArts Emerging Curator Program.

The exhibition’s narrative unfolds through the works of DMV artists Calder Brannock, Rodrigo Carazas Portal, Larry Cook, James Huckenpahler, Katie Macyshyn, Amanda Kleinman, Raul Zahir de Leon, and Kathryn Zaremba. Research assistants include Ashley DeHoyos, Christine Miller, and Alexandra Oliva. Ashley DeHoyos (2017 VisArts Emerging Curator), Christine Miller, and Alexandra Oliva served as research assistants.

About the VisArts Emerging Curator Program:

The VisArts Emerging Curator Program pairs an emerging curator with an experienced mentoring curator to produce new exhibitions and related programming. The program is generously funded by the Windgate Charitable Foundation. José Ruiz is the 2017 Mentoring Curator and Ashley DeHoyos is the 2017 Emerging Curator.