Educational Forum with Pepon Osorio November 20, 2009

Osorio's pieces, influenced by his experience as a social worker, merge conceptual art and community dynamics. “My principal commitment as an artist is to return art to the community,” he says. A recent example is Tina's House, a project created in collaboration with a Philadelphia family recovering from a devastating fire. The house — a tabletop-size art piece — tells the story of the night of the fire and those affected, and is traveling the country in a series of ‘home visits.’ A home visit invites a new family to live with the artwork for a period of at least one week, allowing the story of Tina's House to be told in many homes and environments.

In 2008, Osorio served as inspiration and leader for Fleisher's HOMEMADE project, in which sixteen local teens and four teaching artists created site-specific community-based art installations in collaboration with four families in South Philadelphia.

Osorio's work has been shown at the Whitney Museum of American Art and El Museo del Barrio, New York; the Smithsonian Museum of American Art, Washington, D.C.; Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, San Juan; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia; The Museum of Art at Rhode Island School of Design, Providence; and in storefronts, department stores and homes in many locations throughout the world.

Official Website: http://www.fleisher.org