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National Portrait Gallery gets San Antonio flavor and history

Smithsonian Institute will house local artist Cruz Ortiz’ portrait of a Chicano art scholar and culture figure

Olivia and Cruz Ortiz of Burnt Nopal on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020, in San Antonio. (Gabe Hernandez | SABJ, San Antonio Business Journal )

SAN ANTONIOEditor’s note: This story is part of a partnership between the San Antonio Business Journal and KSAT.

The Smithsonian Institute will house renown local artist Cruz Ortiz’ portrait of Chicano art scholar Tomás Ybarra-Frausto, Ph.D. in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington D.C., according to the San Antonio Business Journal.

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"This is enormous because it elevates the art to the level of American art history," Ortiz said.

Ortiz is the art director of Burnt Nopal, a marketing and design company founded and led by his wife Olivia Ortiz. He described Ybarra-Frausto as an "American treasure."

The Frausto portrait is already in D.C., but Smithsonian representatives plan on returning for two more of Cruz’s portraits.

Read the full story in the San Antonio Business Journal.


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