For the past couple of months, Lorena Diosdado has been spending much of her time in downtown Gilroy, honing her artistic skills while interacting with locals to bolster her sources of inspiration.
The Frisco, Texas native, who now lives in San Jose, is the current artist-in-residence at 6th Street Studios and Art Center, a recently launched program of the organization.
Artists participating in the program have access to one of the newly renovated studios at 64 West Sixth St. anywhere between six weeks and three months. They also have the opportunity to exhibit their work and participate in the monthly art walks and markets hosted by 6th Street Studios and Art Center.
Diosdado, a recent Stanford University graduate who earned a degree in art with a minor in education, said she has enjoyed learning about Gilroy since starting the program in late September, and also spoke to the value the residency has on rising artists such as herself.
“It’s really crucial to have a place like this,” she said. “This is an incredibly unique opportunity because of the freedom you’re granted. It really is whatever you want to make of it.”
Diosdado paints primarily in acrylics, and said she is interested in shining a light on personal narratives of those who have historically been marginalized and the struggles they face.
Such individuals are not normally expressed in the art world, she noted.
“There is a lot of value in exploring different stories,” Diosdado said.
She is currently working on a series of works centered around her friend, who got laid off from her job at Stanford University at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Adding that she still has art she created as a preschooler, Diosdado said her teachers throughout her educational career encouraged her to continue pursuing her lifelong love of the craft.
“They kept telling me, ‘Lorena, you are talented, keep going,’” she recalled.
She holds open studio hours from 10am to 2pm on Sundays. To view her art, visit LorenaDiosdado.com or find her on Instagram @lorenad.art.
Diosdado will conclude her residency by the end of December.
In January, 6th Street Studios and Art Center will welcome a world-renowned muralist to the residency program, and is reaching out to the community to help extend her stay.
Nicole MacDonald of Detroit will be arriving in Gilroy in January after staying in Italy, where she is working on a project.
6th Street Studios and Art Center founder Emily McEwan-Upright said MacDonald will be working on a mural on-site at the studios during her six-week stay. She has offered to stay another six weeks to create a mural in downtown Gilroy with community participation, but is in need of a place to stay.
McEwan-Upright is reaching out to the community to help find living quarters for MacDonald for six to 12 weeks, while securing funds for a travel stipend between $2,000-$3,000 and fundraising for materials.
“I would like to work with the community in some capacity to make a public work that is relevant to the surrounding area,” MacDonald wrote in her residency mission. “A mural of significance, designed in part by the community, or an installation with a unified theme that could utilize empty spaces, such as vacant billboards, or window spaces in a building. I would like to learn about Gilroy, its history, and the inhabitants’ current goals and aspirations, and reflect that in the work.”
McEwan-Upright said she will need to secure the living space and funds shortly. For information, email in**@6t*****************.org or visit 6thstreetartstudios.org.
