Wanda Raimundi-Ortiz, assistant professor in the UCF School of Visual Arts and Design, will create a live performance portrait at Knowles Chapel in Winter Park on Tuesday, March 21 at 6 p.m.
The piece, inspired by Michelangelo’s Pietà will feature Raimundi-Ortiz sitting and cradling 33 young people of color, the same age as Jesus at the time of his execution. This is the latest iteration of her Reinas/Queens series, which is anchored in trauma and anxiety. In this demonstration, she will explore the fear of losing a child to violence/intolerance.
Her costume for the event was designed by Kristina Tollefson, an associate professor in UCF’s School of Performing Arts.
The performance will be accompanied with a brochure featuring Raimundi-Ortiz’s sketches and written pieces by Rollins College Professor of History Julian Chambliss, Curator Amy Galpin, and Fred Hicks Fellow Sarah Castro.
This is the premiere of Pietà, which will be performed next at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C.