Angel Sánchez Ortíz

Angel Sánchez Ortíz was born in Ponce and raised in Barrio San Antón in Puerto Rico. He grew up living the traditional Carnival festivities in February each year. During this time, family and friends were immersed in the celebration heralding the beginning of Lent. These festivities are more vibrant in the poorer areas of Ponce. He participated in the making of masks and costumes as they got ready for the Carnival in the Calle Cuatro, Bélgica, Cantera and Playa de Ponce. These masks are made out of papier-maché and depict animals with fantastic imagery. Angel Sánchez Ortíz made his own masks at the age of seven after observing artisans such as Mariano, Geño and others. By the time he was nine years old he had completed several other masks with vivid splashes of color and curved horns with the encouragement of his art teacher. Sánchez Ortíz continued his craft after immigrating to the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts in 1989, teaching children and adolescents this cultural tradition through workshops and other activities. He has exhibited his work at the Puerto Rican Cultural Center, the Spanish American Union, Worcester Art Museum, Wheeler Gallery at Umass, Holyoke Community College, at Hartford Public Library, at Lowell Folk Festival and many other events around southern New England. Angel is a strong advocate for transmission of Puerto Rican culture through mask-making and other paper crafts.

Angel Ortiz, based in Holyoke, Massachusetts, is a maker of traditional Puerto Rican vejigante masks made of painted paper maché that are worn by dancers representing demons and playfully scary figures at celebrations including Carnival and the St. James de Campostela Festival held in Ponce and Loiza, Puerto Rico. This festival has also been held in several cities around New England, including New Haven for some years in the 1990s. Angel taught the process of Puerto Rican vejigante-making to Lydia Perez in the Southern New England Traditional Arts Program in 2006-2007.