Spanish Roots of Latin American Art Explored At Next Sánchez Lecture Series Oct. 21

At 7 p.m. on Monday, October 21, Dr. Marion Oettinger, Jr., senior curator and curator of Latin American Art at the San Antonio Museum of Art, will explore the Spanish origins of Latin American art in his lecture entitled "Virgins, Saints, and Sinners: Spanish Roots of Latin American Folk Art."

This will be the second lecture of the Texas A&M International University 2002-2003 A.R. Sánchez Distinguished Lecture Series, and will be held in the Student Center Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public.

Dr. Oettinger is a cultural anthropologist, specializing in Latin American art and culture, with over 25 years of experience living, working and conducting research in Spain and various parts of Latin America.

In addition to his position with the San Antonio Museum of Art, Oettinger has worked as the project director for a 30,000-square foot installation at the Nelson A. Rockefeller Center for Latin American Art, as a guest curator and project director for Visiones del Pueblo: The Folk Art of Latin America, at the Museum of American Folk Art in New York, and as the project director for Meridian House International's Mexican Folk Art Exhibition and Symposium, in Washington D.C.

Oettinger's extensive list of publications includes The Folk Art of Spain and the Americas: El Alma del Pueblo, a collection of eight articles by Spanish and American folk art specialists. The book, for which he wrote the introduction and edited, provides an overview of Spanish folk art and its transformation in the Americas. He also wrote the catalogue for the Visiones del Pueblo exhibit in New York and Folk Treasures of Mexico: The Nelson A. Rockefeller Collection, an extensive book on the nature and history of the collection.

Oettinger received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He has also studied at the University of Pittsburgh and the Monterey Institute of Foreign Studies. He received his B.A in Anthropology from the University of the Americas in Mexico.

For more information on the series, please contact the College of Arts and Humanities at 326.2460, visit offices in the Sue and Radcliffe Killam Library, room 429, or e-mail pais@tamiu.edu. University office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Affairs and Information Services at pais@tamiu.edu