In Conversation: Artist José Alvarez (D.O.P.A.) and Rosario Güiraldes

Presented in conjunction with The Pencil Is a Key: Drawings by Incarcerated Artists, artist Jose Alvarez (D.O.P.A.), born Devyi Orangel Pena Arteaga, and The Drawing Center’s Assistant Curator Rosario Güiraldes will have a public conversation on the portrait series Alvarez began in 2012 while held at Krome Detention Center in Miami for immigration violations. Four days into Alvarez’s incarceration, a fellow detainee encouraged Alvarez to start drawing to stave off symptoms of depression. In the following months, Alvarez made over thirty drawings of undocumented immigrants also held at Krome.