About The Show
The October Late Space show "Ropa Dope" in the Garfield neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by Steven Montinar and Karla Arrucha will be an exhibition of wearable works that revolve around black and hispanic culture through the lens of fashion. The pieces will be constructed out of objects of black and hispanic oppression, hardship, and constraint; and made into items of style and paralleled positive usefulness.
"Ropa Dope" plays off of the boxing term "rope-a-dope"; a word meaning to be trapped against a boxing ring's ropes and dodging ineffective punches thrown by the opposer. Montinar and Arrucha "dodge the blows" of items within the two communities associated with oppressive events, institutionalization, and last resort solutions by creating alternative uses for them. These alternatives twist the negative into a positive ownership of obstructive histories. The play on words come from the Spanish word for "clothes" (ropa) and a word stemming from black society driven hip hop culture detonating "cool" (dope [informal]).
"Ropa Dope" plays off of the boxing term "rope-a-dope"; a word meaning to be trapped against a boxing ring's ropes and dodging ineffective punches thrown by the opposer. Montinar and Arrucha "dodge the blows" of items within the two communities associated with oppressive events, institutionalization, and last resort solutions by creating alternative uses for them. These alternatives twist the negative into a positive ownership of obstructive histories. The play on words come from the Spanish word for "clothes" (ropa) and a word stemming from black society driven hip hop culture detonating "cool" (dope [informal]).
About The Artists
Steven Montinar is a digital artist currently in his junior year at Carnegie Mellon University. His main skillset is in the medium of film centering on the themes of black culture, hip hop, consciousness, and appropriation to pay homage to black contributions or highlight everyday oppression. His work has been exhibited in:
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Karla Arrucha is a painter and aspiring installation artist currently in her junior year at Shepherd University. Her technique consists of a semi-realistic style, vibrant palette, and often portraits or humanoid figures. Karla's practice explores the playfulness in the everyday and the exploitation of novelty. Her work has been exhibited in:
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Supported and Funded By
The Frank-Ratchye Fund for Art @ the Frontier
The STUDIO administers the Frank-Ratchye Fund for Art @ the Frontier (FRFAF): an endowment to encourage the creation of innovative artworks by the faculty, students and staff of Carnegie Mellon University.
With this fund, the STUDIO seeks to develop a cache of groundbreaking projects created at CMU — works that can be described as “thinking at the edges” of the intersection of disciplines. The Frank-Ratchye Fund supports at least three projects per year, which are selected by a committee twice annually. Any faculty, student or staffperson actively affiliated with Carnegie Mellon is eligible to apply, regardless of their home department.
The STUDIO administers the Frank-Ratchye Fund for Art @ the Frontier (FRFAF): an endowment to encourage the creation of innovative artworks by the faculty, students and staff of Carnegie Mellon University.
With this fund, the STUDIO seeks to develop a cache of groundbreaking projects created at CMU — works that can be described as “thinking at the edges” of the intersection of disciplines. The Frank-Ratchye Fund supports at least three projects per year, which are selected by a committee twice annually. Any faculty, student or staffperson actively affiliated with Carnegie Mellon is eligible to apply, regardless of their home department.
The Pittsburgh Foundation
Advancing Black Arts in Pittsburgh is a joint grant making program created and managed through a partnership between The Pittsburgh Foundation and The Heinz Endowments.
The program is committed to helping create a vibrant cultural life in Pittsburgh and the region. Both foundations have made consistent investments in the initiative since 1988. In recent years, both foundations have codified their longstanding efforts toward equity into aspirational visions that seek to support the development of a more inclusively imagined future The Pittsburgh Foundation's 100 Percent Pittsburgh organizing principle imagines a region where courage, voice and racial equity are the norm as our region moves authentically toward the mutual goal of economic sustainability for all. The Heinz Endowments' Just Pittsburgh is an aspirational vision meant to inspire thought and action toward creating a region that is inclusive and equitable.