Art residency and community programs
Camino Al Arte offers art residencies, educational programs and community events inside a beautiful rural setting in Atotonilco, a community of San Miguel de Allende, the heart of Mexican history and culture.
Residencies
Our residency program for artists offers two, four, six and eight-week stays, with flexibility for those seeking a longer stay. Residents can choose to have greater impact during their stay by leading and participating in local community projects. We welcome contemporary artists in plastic arts; visual arts; performing arts; literature; digital arts; and filmmaking.
Facilities
Residents have access to:
- Privacy and tranquility in an environment surrounded by trees
- A 40m2 well-lit studio for private use
- Introductions with local arts leaders and ad hoc curatorial support
- Private bedroom, bathroom and kitchenette
- Shared dining room, reading room and laundry
- Daily breakfast, lunch subsidy and basic food provisions
- Access to workshop and print shop, plus alliance with large metal and woodworking shops
- Use of shared vehicle (gasoline not included)
- Policy for visitors, children and/or accompanying pets
- Quick access to historical, recreational and religious facilities
Creative Community
Aside from the work of our resident artists, we offer exhibitions, workshops, and community events that encourage participation from other artists, students, and families from the surrounding communities.
Our residents might choose to engage positively with the community by proposing and leading workshops, talks, or creative projects that help to enhance the lives of the local families.
RESIDENT ARTIST
Víctor López
Oaxaca-born Víctor López has presented his multidisciplinary work in more than 70 individual and group exhibitions, nationally and internationally, in countries including Uruguay, Sweden, Estonia and the United States, also being selected for the 5th and 6th Shinzaburo Takeda Engraving Biennial.
Víctor participated in "Native Corn", organized by Francisco Toledo to protest the use of transgenic corn, which took place at the San Agustín Arts Center, Oaxaca. He participated in the XI Alfredo Zalce National Biennial of Painting and Engraving, with an exhibition held at the Alfredo Zalce Museum of Contemporary Art in Morelia, Michoacán.
He was invited by Nueve Arte Urbano in 2017 to make a mural in Tallinn, Estonia, in commemoration of its 100th anniversary of independence, and in 2021 to participate in "Boundless Space", an exhibition and auction at Sothebys in New York, to benefit from "Burning Man." In 2022, he exhibited 11 canvases at "The Man" at the "Burning Man" center, participating with pictorial and graphic works.
Víctor is a founding member of "La Madriguera Gráfica" Collective, which promotes collective dialogue as an artistic-social exercise, through experimentation in various graphic disciplines. He completed his undergraduate studies at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Autonomous University of Querétaro.
RESIDENT ARTIST
Lian Kizner
Lian Kizner is a dancer and choreographer who debuted 18 years ago at Studio E in Queens, New York.
Lian's keen eye for character interpretation and direction earned her the Choreography award from Lehman College in 2019, before they invited her to choreograph for their department. Since graduating, Lian co-founded and is the artistic director of SteLi Dance company, which leverages its platform to contribute to both the creative canon and invest in community equality efforts.
Some of her choreographic credits include: Kraine Theater, Dixon Place, IATI Theater, The Players Theater, the streets of NYC (through Open Culture NYC), and more. In 2021, Lian debuted, “Negiot,” her first independent dance film as a Producer, Creative Director, and Choreographer. She is currently the company manager of Dancers Unlimited.
Lian has a deep passion for the arts and exploring the beauty of the human experience through connection, listening, and mind-body oneness.
RESIDENT ARTIST
Ginny Krueger
Ginny Krueger received her M.F.A. from Northern Illinois University in 1995, an Illinois Arts Council Award Recipient.
Ginny has been awarded numerous international residencies, including OxBow SAIC, Saugutuck, Mi, US; Gullkistan, Laugarvatn, Iceland; Skopelos Foundation, Skopelos, Greece; Arquetopia, Puebla, Mexico, and Art Print Residence, Barcelona, Spain.
She has had several solo and two-person shows, and is included in numerous collections nationwide. Ginny is well-known for her painting in the encaustic medium, and for her mixed media work with the encaustic medium, which has spanned more than two decades. Additionally, she enjoys working in cast glass, water media on paper, clay, and printmaking.
Arriving at Camino Al Arte on February 11, she is focused on further exploring the materiality and physicality of her work, most notably her abiding reverence for the natural world.
RESIDENT ARTIST
Rafael Ontiveros (Aper)
Rafael Ontiveros, also known as Aper, is a self-taught visual artist from the Mexican state of Querétaro. He is a graffiti artist, painter and ceramist with more than 25 years of professional experience.
Rafael has participated in four international biennials, two in China (Beijing and Dafen) and two in Mexico (Pedro Coronel and José Atanacio Monroy). His résumé also includes illustrations for book renowned publishers Alfaguara Infantil and Storytel, among others.
His work has been included in more than 25 individual exhibitions and 40 group exhibitions in Mexico, Spain, Argentina, Canada, France, Finland, Peru and China.
During his residency at Camino Al Arte, Rafael will produce 21 paintings in 12 days of uninterrupted creation, a concept he has called Kabbalah 21, focusing on his own evolution and expansion as an artist using mixed media, as well as the different actions that make it possible for an artist to find his compass, his path and inspiration when faced with the prospect of creating a new piece of art.
VISITING ARTIST
Rocío Sáenz
Born in Chihuahua, Mexico, Rocío Sáenz currently resides and works in Guadalajara, Jalisco. Her journey in the visual arts started when she was eight years old, painting in her hometown and experiencing frequent border crossings into Texas; recognizing her problems with authority and her boredom with established social rules. During her youth she studied at her own pace in Mexico and Europe, later earning a Master's Degree in Art, specializing in Fine Arts at ISA, in Havana, Cuba.
Rocío’s work has been exhibited individually and collectively in Mexico, South America and Europe. Throughout her career, she has earned important recognition and prizes, including the FONCA Young Creators Scholarship (2003-2004); the VSC MexAm Fellowship (2006/2007); first place in the II Pedro Coronel Painting Biennial (2010); and the Chihuahua Award, Vanguard in Arts and Sciences (2019). She is currently a member of the National System of Creators.
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rocío began to explore the creative possibilities offered by confinement and illness.
RESIDENT ARTIST
Fausto Fernandez
Our first resident artist is Phoenix-based Fausto Fernandez, a mixed media collage artist whose art works also include public art and community engagement projects. Through the use of traditional media, photography and found objects, Fausto creates large compositions that serve as metaphors for human interaction and behavior. His ideas develop from questioning his upbringing in the U.S. - Mexico border, and are inspired by diverse communities and societies. Works are often inspired by math, technology, cultural preservation and mythology.
Fausto’s work has been shown at the Smithsonian’s George Gustav Heye Center in New York; Gate Cultural Center in San Pedro, California; McNay Museum of Art in San Antonio; Akron Museum in Ohio; Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum in Arizona; Tempe Center for the Arts in Arizona; and Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, Canada.
Fernandez was born in El Paso,Texas and grew up in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.