Simulcast on, KGRA Radio, YouTube & Facebook
October 19th, 6:00-8:00 PM EDT (-4GMT)
Alfred J. Quiroz, Professor Emeritus of Art, discusses his UFO/USO incidents while he served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War.
BIO: Born on May 9, 1944 in Tucson, AZ. Upon graduation from High School in 1963, enlisted in the U.S. Navy, served in Vietnam, 1964-65 & 1966. Completed active duty as an Assistant Navigator (E- 5) and received an Honorable Discharge in 1967.
Accepted at the San Francisco Art Institute in 1968. Mentored by Peter Saul, Wally Hedrick, Jeremy Anderson, and Sam Tchkalien. Received two in-house scholarships in 1970 & 1971 and was honored with an early graduation in 1971 BFA Painting.
In 1973 was accepted to the R.I. School of Design, graduated with an MAT in Art Education, in 1974. Taught at two alternative high schools, both private and public and worked for the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts as a Visual Arts Specialist. Active artist in the Providence art scene, he founded and directed two galleries. 1978-79, he was hired as the Project Coordinator for an ESAA federal grant in the Central Falls, R.I. school district.
In 1979, moved back to Tucson to re-establish his studio and base of operations. In 1982, was accepted into the University of Arizona MFA Painting Program, graduated in 1984. Mentored by Robert Colescott, James G. Davis and Bruce McGrew.
In 1985-89, he was selected into the Artist-in-Education Program for the Arizona Commission on the Arts and was a member of the Dinnerware Artist Cooperative in Tucson in that interim. Travelled extensively throughout the state as part of the A.I.E. Program.
In 1988, received the Arizona Artist Award ($25,000) from the Tucson Community Foundation, one of five finalists. 1989, the University of Arizona hired him as an Assistant Professor. Appointed Area Director of Painting, 1993-1995, 1997-2003, 2004-2005 and was the 2D Chair until 2017. In 1995 his work was included in the publication “Redefining American History Painting”, Cambridge University Press. Received Clinton King Purchase Award at Museum of Fine Arts of Santa Fe, 1996. Applied for and received a sabbatical in 1996. Invited to San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico to conduct a mural workshop with members of Grupo Maya. In May 1998, was invited to the Academy of Art and Design in Bratislava, Slovakia as a guest professor to establish an exchange program. In July of 1999, participated in Vision 21 Art Exchange Program, Legends of China Foundation, Beijing, China. In November of 1999, had first international solo exhibition at Gallery B.A.I. in Barcelona, Spain. His work was selected for inclusion for the publication, “George Washington: American Symbol,” Hudson Hills Press, NY, 1999.
Invited to a Three-person Exhibition at Apex Curatorial Art Program, New York February– March 2000 reviewed in the NY Times, and received a Visual Arts Fellowship from Tucson/Pima Arts
Council. Completed a 2-year term as elected Studio Co-Chair for the Art Dept. Studio Program at the University .
The Chicano Hispano Student Affairs honored him for Teaching Excellence & Exemplary Service to Students in 2001. In 2002 he was selected for inclusion in The St. James Guide to Hispanic Artists, and Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art.
In 2003 Professor Quiroz was awarded a one-year sabbatical. He was also awarded a Fulbright- Garcia Robles Grant as part of the Fulbright Border Program in Mexico, an Artist Project Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts for a Collaboration Project, the Pat Mutterer Memorial Fund First Place Award at the 2003 Arizona Biennial, Tucson Museum of Art, and a Dean’s Teaching Award from the College of Fine Arts.
During the full year Sabbatical, he completed a mural as part of his Fulbright project at the Universidad Tecnologica de Nogales in Sonora, Mexico and the Collaborative Artist Installation Project entitled “Parade of Humanity” was installed on the border wall in Nogales, Sonora with two artists from Nogales, Sonora. An Artist Project Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts funded the project. At the end of his sabbatical 2004, he initiated the first studio classes for the UA School of Art at the Orvieto Institute in Orvieto, Italy. The National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago commissioned him to create a piece for the “African Prescience in Mexico” traveling exhibition, 2006-2007. His piece was reviewed in the Washington Post w/color photo.
Spring of 2006, he was invited as a set designer for the Borderlands Theater production of “Conjunto.” In the Fall of 2006, he coordinated a student mural project at the Mars Lab for the Phoenix Mars Mission and was invited by NASA to watch the launch at Cape Canaveral. He was nominated and appointed a Faculty Fellow in 2007. His Border Milagro pieces were the subject of a chapter in the publication “Faith and Transformation,” Museum of New Mexico Press (2007). October of 2007, he was awarded the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) Latino Artist Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2009, his photograph on vinyl (12’ X 60’), entitled “Invisible Wall” was installed on the Border wall in Nogales, Sonora Mexico. The Cultura Sonorese of Mexico funded the project.
He was awarded Sabbatical for the Spring 2010 to conduct a project about water usage in Tucson entitled “Bodies of Water.” He created nine “ocean charts” of local swimming pools along with sculptural mariner’s symbols that were floated in each pool.
2012, The University of Mexico UNAM, Mexico City DF reproduced his “Goddess” painting in the publication “En La Punta de La Lengua.” The same painting was reproduced on the cover of the book “Mama Dolly,” Norstedts Publishing, Stockholm, Sweden also in 2012 and recently on the cover of “Power,” a very recent publication, 2021.
In 2013 he exhibited in an invitational group show at Texas Tech University Museum (museum purchase) and a juried exhibition at East Tennessee State University.
In 2014 he exhibited in a juried exhibition at the Grunwald Gallery of Art at Indiana University and two shows in Phoenix. He was awarded a People’s Choice and Critic’s Choice at the 30th Exotic Invitational Alwun House Gallery, Phoenix, AZ. The Milagro works were selected for inclusion for the publication “Up Against the Wall” University of Texas Press.
He was the recipient of the Omari-Tunkara Faculty Fellow of the Year Award for 2013-2014.
Professor Quiroz conducted a mural project in the Fall of 2014 for the OSIRIS-REx Space Mission with students from the School of Art. It was completed in December 2014. He was also commissioned by the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago to create a painting for a group invitational exhibition, “House On Mango Street: Artists Interpret Community.” In 2015, he was nominated for the Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters and Sculptors Grant Program. In the Spring of 2016, Professor Quiroz was awarded the James Anthony Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching by the UA College of Fine Arts. Summer 2016, he was invited to exhibit at the Apexart Gallery “Fencing In Democracy” in New York City. He had a solo exhibition at the UA Museum of Art (Oct. 22nd- Jan 22, 2017). A catalogue was produced for the exhibition. A photo of the Border wall installation was included in the back cover of the publication “Puro Chicanx Writers of the 21st Century” 2020. He was awarded Professor Emeritus status in 2018
NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS INCLUDE:
• Alameda Museum, San Antonio TX
• Aljira Art Center, NJ
• Anacostia Community Museum (Smithsonian), Washington D.C. • Apex Art Curatorial Program, New York City
• California African American Museum, Los Angeles, CA
• Centro Cultural, Tijuana, Mexico
• Centro Cultural de la Raza, San Diego, CA
• Coconino Center for the Arts, Flagstaff, AZ
• Diverseworks, Houston, TX
•Donna Beam Fine Arts Gallery, UNLV, Las Vegas, NV
• East Tennessee State University, (Slocumb Gallery) Johnson, TN • El Paso Museum of Art, TX
• Exconvento Betlemita, Vera Cruz, Mexico
• Ft Wayne Museum of Art, IN
• Galeria Mesta Bratislavy, Bratislava, Slovakia
• Galeria M.A. Bazovskeho, Trencin, Slovakia
• Gallery NAGA, Boston, MA
• Gallery of Contemporary Art, Colorado Springs, CO
• Gorman Museum University of California at Davis, CA
• Grunwald Gallery of Art, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN
• Guggenheim Gallery, Chapman College, Orange, CA
• Heard Museum, Phoenix, AZ
• Martin Museum of Art, Baylor University, Waco, TX
• Monroe Community College (Burris Gallery) Rochester, NY
• Museo de Arte del Estado, Orizaba, Vera Cruz, Mexico
• Museo de la Historia Mexicana, Monterrey, Mexico
• Museum of Fine Arts of New Mexico, Santa Fe, NM
• Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin, TX
• Mexican Museum, San Francisco, CA
• Museum of Contemporary Art, Ft. Collins, CO
• Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA
• National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, NM
• Nelson Fine Arts Center, AZ State University Museum, Tempe, AZ • Neuberger Museum, SUNY, Purchase, NY
• Northern Arizona University Art Museum, Flagstaff, AZ
• Oakland Museum of Art, CA
• Ohio State University at Newark, NJ
• Plains Museum, Moorhead, MN
• Promega Gallery, Madison WI
• Roswell Museum and Art Center, NM,
• Sam Houston State University, TX
• San Antonio Museum of Art, TX
• San Francisco Art Institute, CA
• San Jose Museum of Art, CA
• Scottsdale Center for the Arts, AZ
• SOMAR Gallery in San Francisco, CA
• S.P.A.R.C. Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
• Statna Galeria, Banska Bystrica, Slovakia
• Tacoma Art Museum, Tacoma, WA
• Texas Tech Museum, Lubbock, TX
• The African Museum of Philadelphia, PA
• Tucson Museum of Art,
• University of Arizona Museum of Art
• University of Texas, El Paso
• Washington Project for the Arts, (D.C.),
• Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN
AWARDS:
• Selected for inclusion in the Tucson High School Hall of Fame, 2020
• Awarded Professor Emeritus of Art, 2018
• James B. Anthony Award for Sustained Excellence in Teaching UA College of Arts 2015-16
• Mikelle Smith Omari-Tunkara Faculty Fellow Award, UA Student Affairs 2013-2014
• LULAC Latino Artist Lifetime Achievement Award, 2007
• First Place Award, Pat Mutterer Memorial Fund, AZ. Biennial (Tucson Museum of Art) 2003 • Awarded Fulbright-Garcia Robles Grant, Mexico: Fulbright Border Program Award 2003
• Awarded Artist Project Grant, AZ Commission on the Arts, 2003
• Dean’s Teaching Award, College of Fine Arts, UA, 2003
• Selected for inclusion: Contemporary Chicana and Chicano Art, Bilingual Press, Tempe, AZ, 2002
• Recipient of 2001-2002 Fine Arts Research & Professional Development Incentive Grant, UA • Recipient of Grant, College of Fine Arts Dean’s Fund for Excellence, to attend College Art
Association Conference, Philadelphia, UA, 2002
• Selected for inclusion, St. James Guide to Hispanic Artists, 2002
• Honored for Teaching Excellence & Exemplary Service to Students Chicano Hispano Student
Affairs, University of Arizona, 2001
• College Art Association Nominating Committee, (National election) March. 2001-2002 • Visual Arts Fellowship, Tucson-Pima Arts Council, 1996 & 2000
• Juror’s Recognition, 1997 AZ Biennial, Tucson Museum of Art
• Community Service Award, 1996, Pima County, AZ
• Clinton King Purchase Award 1996 Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fe, NM
• Artist in Residence, Partners of the Americas: Oaxaca, Mexico, 1995
• Excellence in Teaching Award, UA 1995
• Incentive & Small Grant Awards, UA 1995
• Visual Arts Fellowship AZ Commission on the Arts 1989 and1995
• Materials Grant (Phoenix Art Museum) 1992
• Incentive Grant, UA 1992
• New Forms Regional Initiative Grant (Diverseworks,) Houston, TX 1991,
• Arizona Arts Award Fellowship 1988
• Best of Show AZ. Biennial (Tucson Museum of Art) 1986
• Celebration Artist Grant, (NEA) 1977
JUROR & PANELIST FOR THE FOLLOWING ORGANIZATIONS:
• Apexart Curatorial Program
• College Art Association (1999 & 2000 Elected to the Nominating Committee) • National Endowment for the Arts
• General Service Administration
• Fulbright Senior Specialist Program
• Arts Midwest
• Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation
• Mid-America Arts Alliance
• Southern Arts Federation
• Western States Arts Federation (Board Member 1993-1996)
• Arizona Commission on the Arts
• Colorado Council on the Arts
• Delaware State Arts Council
• Idaho Commission on the Arts
• Nebraska State Council on the Arts
• Nevada Arts Council
• New Mexico Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts
• Pennsylvania Commission on the Arts
• Tucson Community Foundation
• Tucson-Pima Arts Council