The 6th Annual Jimmy Santiago Baca Writer's Retreat is less than a month away and we are firming up our schedule and confirming presenters throughout the two day retreat.
The latest addition is a presentation entitled: Creative Con'sciousness, Breaking all Boundaries, which will be presented by Eric Christo Martinez. In this presentation Martinez will encourage participants to "think outside the box" by breaking the rules within their writing. Learn how to break the rules of writing in order to become a visionary and a master of the written technique.
Eric Christo Martinez was born and raised in Albuquerque, NM. and is the proud owner of Iconink 47 Studio and Gallery situated in the heart of downtown. His story started like many youth growing up in the crack era of the 90’s. In 2002 he became a statistic of the war on drugs when he found himself in the harsh reality of Mandatory Minimums and at 22yrs of age he was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison. Choosing to make the best of his situation and finding his true potential and creativity he began to paint a future with an optimistic stroke and began his journey as a professional artist from behind the walls. He created a series of art "The Conviction Series" which speaks of his convictions and journey through the system and the strong conviction that one can turn a negative into positive. Shortly after his release from prison and first public showing at the 5G Gallery, Christos first self portrait “The Passion of Christo” was discovered and bought by art Dealer Peter Eller which in turn was donated and accepted in the permanent collection of the Albuquerque Museum. Eric made headlines shortly after on the front page of the Albuquerque Journal with a write up by Joline Gutierrez Krueger "Convict Freed by Art". Eric's story went into syndication which spread nationally and shortly after was confronted by Bernalillo County to curate a show with the collection of art being created in the honor pods at the Metropolitan Detention Center. On June 2nd 2012 shortly after getting out the Inmate Art Show with the MDC Collection alongside the Conviction Series debuted at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. Christo found his calling as artist, curator, entrepreneur, and advocate for rights and programming to prisoners, ex offenders, and underprivileged youth.
Learn more information about the presentation and the presenter below, and if you have not signed up for the retreat yet, check out the Writer's Retreat tab for more information and to register.