March 28, 2018
DACA artist to discuss how his activism influences his work in Beach Museum of Art presentation
Submitted by Communications and Marketing
An artist who was brought into the U.S. undocumented as a young child will discuss his activism and how his status in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program influences his work in a talk at Kansas State University's Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art.
Fidencio Fifield-Perez will present "Legalities of Being" at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 12, in the museum's UMB Theater. The presentation, which is free and open to the public, is also part of Kansas State University's annual Engagement Symposium, sponsored by the Center for Engagement and Community Development. This year's symposium theme is "Powerful Dialogue: Engaging Community Issues in Polarizing Times." The presentation is also part of KSUnite, a communitywide movement to uphold the value of human diversity and inclusion.
In his talk, Fifield-Perez will describe his commitment to activism through both studio practice and nontraditional art practices embedded in community life. Fifeld-Perez explores issues of migration, labor and political borders through intricate sculptures made from manipulating maps and newspaper cuttings. Major support for this talk is provided by a grant from the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation's Lincoln & Dorothy I. Deihl Community Grant Program.
Fifield-Perez's talk also wraps up his six-month exhibition at the Beach Museum of Art, "Fronteras/Frontiers," which features his work as well as that of artist Artemio Rodríguez.
Born in Mexico and raised in North Carolina, Fifield-Perez earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa. He is a recipient of a National Association Latino Arts and Culture Artist Grant and a Galveston Artist Residency award.