Lives and works in Puerto Rico.

Project Description: Functioning as an informal “artist-in-residence” in El Cerro, a rural, working-class community embedded in the mountains of Naranjito, Puerto Rico, Rosado-Seijo will extend his 13-year engagement with El Cerro residents by collaborating with local leaders to devise creative workshops that facilitate local business creation, shared identity, and a sense of belonging.

The project is best known for resident’s painting their houses different shades of green– both paying homage to the way the community has been built harmoniously within the hillside, but also to the color of the Independence Party. It elegantly combines modernist abstract painting with community building, political identity, and skill development (as participants have gone on to become house painters). The fellowship will allow Rosado-Seijo to deepen his engagement with this community by widening the scope of activities through which they will collaborate.

Update: In the past year, Chemi was  featured in the Havana Biennial and was exhibited at Duet Gallery, in St. Louis. Chemi will next focus on the second phase of the El Cerro project, which includes documentation in the form of a book, video, and a culminating festival event in El Cerro.

Bio: In 2000, Rosado had his first solo show at the Joan Miró Foundation in Barcelona, including interventions on billboards around the city. Since 2002, he has worked with residents of the El Cerro community to present public art projects, workshops and other community initiatives. In 2006, he inaugurated La Perla’s Bowl, a sculpture built with residents of San Juan’s La Perla community that functions as both a skateboarding ramp and an actual pool. Since 2009, Rosado-Seijo has been organizing exhibitions in his apartment in Santurce, creating a center for meeting and exchange in the Puerto Rican contemporary art scene.

The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation seeks to further the artist’s philanthropic and educational initiatives, and aims to preserve and advance global understanding of the legacy of Robert Rauschenberg’s life and artwork.