SAN ANTONIO – Editor’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.