Colonial Portraits, Inc.

Curated by Jorge Félix, Colonial Portraits, Inc. was an experimental painting installation realized by PRAA Studio Arts Program instructors Mara Ayala and Jennessa I. Martínez together with 30 teen apprentices. Conceived in celebration of Chicago’s Year of the Youth, the project reinterpreted portraiture by Puerto Rican masters—José Campeche, Ramón Frade, Rafael Tufiño, Francisco Rodón, Arnaldo Roche Rabell, and Jean-Michel Basquiat—whose works collectively trace evolving visions of Puerto Rican identity across centuries.

The collaborative process itself became a learning laboratory: apprentices studied the historical context of each original painting, then re-created sections using contemporary techniques and materials. Their large-scale composite panels assembled multiple viewpoints into a single field, mirroring the layered ways that diaspora youth inherit, question, and reimagine tradition. The installation’s spatial design invited viewers to move between past and present—reading excerpts of artist statements, comparing original references to new interpretations, and witnessing technique as a form of cultural inquiry.

Debuting at the Chicago Cultural Center’s Michigan Avenue Galleries, the exhibition garnered strong attention and later traveled to Puerto Rico, opening at El Museo de Las Américas (2019) and at Ana G. Méndez University–Carolina Campus (2021), before returning to PRAA in 2022. Its trajectory modeled how youth-centered projects can advance serious art historical dialogue while building technical skills and civic voice.

Artists: Mara Ayala and Jennessa Martínez Apprentices: Aisha Aich, Isabella Calderón, América Calvario, Dayana Contreras, Esteban Disimone, Tatiana Edwards, Eros Farfán, Isabella Guzmán, Cesia Hernández, Tyler Lucas, Angilee Mantilla, Emmanuel Mendoza, Jocelyn Mendoza, Julio Mendoza, Tabitha Moore, Jenille Morales, Kathya Orozco, Rodrigo Orozco, Eleni Pacheco, Yhan Ramos, Johanna Rodríguez, Bryan Román, Eduardo Román, Alejandro Sánchez, Erik Santiago, Norah Sinnokrot, Dinaluz Torres, Jesalí Torres, Abygail Tovar, Christine Vaerga.

PRAA’s first exhibition to travel to Puerto Rico, the project demonstrates an arc from education to exhibition-making that complements documentary efforts like Faces of Puerto Rican Migration (2019) and contemporary narratives like La Mudanza (2025).