News

Lee University will host an art exhibition featuring a private collection of works from artist Pamela Diaz Martinez in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. The exhibition, which will be on display at the Squires Library, will open on Thursday, Oct. 5, with a reception held from 5-6 p.m. 

“I am so excited to have Pamela share her work with us,” said Victoria Phillips, visiting assistant professor of art. “What an honor it is to have her work here during Hispanic Heritage Month. We are working hard to have an inclusive gallery space that highlights diversity.” 

For nearly a decade, Martinez designed for Esquivel, a luxury shoe brand based in California. Her designs were featured in major fashion magazines, newspapers, and blogs, such as Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, and LA Times. In 2015, she left the fashion industry to pursue her love for painting and drawing. 

Since then, Martinez’s work has been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries, universities, museums, residencies, and pop up and alternative project spaces. Her experimental work has been featured alongside Odd Nerdrum and other reputable figurative artists in an exhibition representing Southern California Figurative Art. This fall, Martinez will open her own gallery, titled “D U N A M I S art space,” which will be dedicated to spiritual contemplation. 

According to Martinez, Scripture is the philosophical vantage point from which she works. The pieces in her exhibition series are made of pastel on plastic paper and are not fixed to the surface, representing the permutations of wind and of the Holy Spirit. 

In addition to several group shows, Martinez’s work has been exhibited solo all around the United States, including Georgia, California, and Wisconsin. She earned her Master of Fine Arts at Arizona State University.  

The art exhibition in Squires will run from Oct 5-24, and will be open Monday–Thursday, 8 a.m. to midnight; Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, 1 p.m. to midnight.  

For more information, contact Victoria Phillips at [email protected].