José Torres-Tama is a master of the art of portraiture and teaches "The Architecture of Portraiture" to high school students at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art in New Orleans.
He was the first artist to lead the Ogden's educational team in the launching of their "Artist & Sense of Place" community arts program back in 2002.
The Ogden commissioned his full series of 20 contemporary portraits of 18th & 19th century Creoles of Color, and published the art book / catalog that accompanied this traveling exhibition.
The Joan Mitchell Foundation in New York funded the publication of Torres-Tama's art the book with funds awarded to the Ogden Museum.
He is part of the Ogden's "Day with an Artist" program, and most recently taught students from the Newman Highs School Arts Department.
In October 2024, he will teach portraiture workshops at Newman High School, as part of an exhibition that highlights his Ogden Museum portraits of New Orleans Free People of Color.
José studied traditional drawing at the Arts Students League in New York with renowned master Robert Beverly Hale.
José has also taught portraiture drawing at Space One Eleven Art Center in Birmingham, AL.
The Morris Museum of Art recently presented his "Live Art" lecture on his Ogden Museum portrait series & new works in progress.
Torres-Tama has received an arts award for his portraits of Latin American immigrant workers from the Community Arts League, and a Joan Mitchell Center Artist-In-Residency four-month studio award in New Orleans.
The Ogden Museum has four of his works-on-paper in their permanent collection, and three portraits from his New Orleans Free People of Color series are in the permanent collection of Beverly McKenna and on display at Le Musée du f.p.c., a historic house museum dedicated to the legacy of Creoles of color.
Below is an image of the Ogden Museum art book on New Orleans Free People of Color published by the museum with funding from theJoan Mitchell Foundation in New York.