Installation Artist
PATTY ORTIZ
Taking art out of the
studio into the streets

Written by LOUIS FEINSTEIN
Photography by KIT WILLIAMS

Patty Ortiz might have discovered a cure for cancer, if only her high school chemistry teacher had not discouraged her from becoming a biochemist. “I remember him saying that you had to have a good memory to be a biochemist,” recalls the installation artist. “And since my mother always teased me about my head falling off because I’d forget to check on it, I decided to go with my second passion — art.”

Intensely interested in art since early childhood, Ortiz became aware of the impact of shadows in her drawings when she was in third grade. She started playing with the idea of portraying three dimensions in her work back then; today she is noted for the dimensionality of her sketches and drawings, many of which have been transformed into sculptural installations.

One of those installations, Experimental Aviation, is seen by thousands of people every day. As Denver International Airport travelers ride the escalator up from the shuttle train into the airport’s main terminal, 140 steel “paper airplanes” are suspended overhead, pointing the way into the open space of the Jeppesen Terminal. “I had been drawing paper airplanes for years,” remarks Ortiz. “They are particularly intriguing because of the way they juxtapose playfulness with the analytical. There’s almost nothing more childlike than a paper airplane, yet the structure that makes it fly is brilliantly precise.”

Blending her analytical and artistic temperaments has led Ortiz down some interesting paths in the art world. As an art major at the University of Texas, she delved into the works of nonrepresentational artists such as Chagall and Kandinsky. Yet somehow even her most abstract works would turn into airplanes.

“I always thought being an engineer would be fun,” says the multi-faceted Ortiz. “When I was younger, I enjoyed solving problems. For relaxation I would do the brainteasers in the scientific magazines. Now, as an artist, I still incorporate that analytical part of my brain, along with the creative part.”

After receiving a master’s degree in art, Ortiz packed up in 1980 and moved her scientific-artist self to Denver, where she could start anew in a place no one knew her as a student. Her work was exhibited in many local galleries and at the Denver Art Museum. An art professor at the University of Denver saw some of her drawings and asked her to transform one into an installation for the university’s Shwayder Garden.

“People are always telling me that my drawings should be turned into sculptures. That’s the three-dimensional quality that has always been evident in my work — people see it springing to life, even on paper,” she explains.

While garnering respect for her art, Ortiz needed to find a way to pay the bills. She was hired as the director of the Colorado Arts Council, and it was there that she found not only a job, but a new drive to bring art to the community. She remembers one night when, leaving the Denver Art Museum, she saw a Hispanic family drive by the museum, gazing at the building as though it were an impenetrable castle. “I had a moment of clear insight right there — my mission was to take art out where the people were. My job at the Colorado Arts Council was the perfect venue for that,” says Ortiz.

Through CAC, Ortiz set up programs that placed artists in schools and taught art to the children of migrant workers. She served a stint as a community artist in the small Eastern plains town of Lamar, where one of her projects included painting goose shadows on the sidewalks.

One of her artist-in-residence programs was in place at Columbine High School at the time of the 1999 shootings. Ortiz and her staff worked tirelessly with the students there, helping them to work through the tragedy by compiling their writings on handmade paper collages.

Recognized for her success with the CAC, Ortiz was tapped to join the staff of Denver’s Museum of Contemporary Art, which was still in its planning stages. It was at that point that she became hooked on museum work. She explains, “Being a museum administrator lets me mesh my two personalities: the analytical problem solver who runs things and the artistic soul who seeks to put together creative exhibits. I realized that this is where I can have the most impact, so when the Museo de las Americas asked me to interview for the position of executive director/curator three years ago, everything came together for me.”

Hired in 2005, Ortiz has been redefining the role of the culturally based museum, located on Santa Fe Boulevard in Denver’s burgeoning art gallery district, which has traditionally had a large Hispanic population. Under her direction, the Museo is reaching out into the community with workshops and customized museum tours for young people. It also offers internships and volunteer opportunities for high school and college students.

What happens in the museum’s exhibition space is always a work in progress. “Most of our exhibits are modern work,” Ortiz explains. “It is fascinating to see how we can take, for example, embroidery done here in Denver and show it next to embroidery from Guatemala, and see what the two have in common. I find that this is where all my creative and artistic energy is channeled these days; I can’t stop working on it.”