We recently connected with Juan de Dios Mora and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Juan de Dios, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
When I was kid, I used to make mud houses and my curiosity for the arts began. I started my studies in Mexico but the ones that develop my skills were in my college years. In college, I studied the masters and artists that made an impact in the art world. I wanted to accomplish the same things regarding the quality of work and portray messages that represents my Latinx community. My professors and artists in the community helped open the path allowing me to be more daring in getting and asking for opportunities. Working hard and showing perseverance in my career brought challenges that improved my way of thinking and producing art. After some years of hard-work, I reached my desired role as art professor and am proud to work with university students. Working constantly and being direct minded can bring rewards to your future and career.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Juan de Dios Mora was born in Yahualica, Mexico. In 1998, his family immigrated to the United States. Mora attended middle school and high school in Laredo, TX. In 2007, Mora moved to San Antonio to continue his studies. In 2009, he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Painting and a Master of Fine Arts specializing in Printmaking in 2011. He acquired both degrees from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). To this day, he is working in the art department at UTSA as an Assistant Professor of art.
Mora concentrates in the printmaking technique of relief to create narratives of Mexican-American experiences. His experiences living along the border (US and Mexico) provide an awaking of social and political concepts that heavily influence his artistic, aesthetic and conceptual ideas. His artworks’ concepts tell a story of individuals in a surreal and comical exaggeration of the survival instincts. The artwork reveals ingenuity and resourcefulness by improvising and using the available materials, tools, and objects into workable, fashionable, and stylized features.
Mora has been included in exhibitions across United States, Mexico, and Japan. Venues featuring his work are National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL; Mexic-Arte Museum, Austin TX; El Paso Museum of Art, El Paso, TX; Museo de Arte de Ciudad Juárez, Mexico; Kyoto Municipal Museum, Japan; and the Latino Cultural Center, Dallas, TX.
Institutions that have acquired his work include, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, OR; McNay Museum, San Antonio, TX; University of Hawaii at Hilo, Hilo, HI; National Museum of Mexican Art, Chicago, IL; The Smithsonian America Art Museum, Washington, DC.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
Now in the days they’re plenty of information online and social media. We can get confused by not doing in depth research in art opportunities provided in current social media venues. Before in my times we used to rely on pamphlets and magazines for art opportunities but now a lot of these are provides online. Also, we artists needed to have a website for visibility. I neglected social media for while because I thought I was taking a risk of wasting productivity and sources. After years, peers and art colleagues insisted that I needed a social media presence. I’m happy to say that social media change my world and perspective positively.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
There are a lot rewards but I will share a couple of these. One reward is that I have the opportunity to work with the community. I enjoy inviting art teachers to collaborate in projects allowing quality time between their middle and high schoolers and university students. After successful projects, we share stories about experiences that enrich their knowledge. The teachers expose their middle and high schoolers to challenging projects and also allow them to have conversation with current university students and professors. Another reward is that middle and high schoolers students wants to join the university family in the future. I will share a true story that happened to me this year. One student got inspired to further their art studies thanks to these experiences. A student stated it in written message in one of the teacher’s yearbook, “tell Juan to expect me in the upcoming years.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://juandediosmoraart.com
- Instagram: @diosprints
Image Credits
Artworks photographed and created by the artist (Juan de Dios Mora)