![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/bulletin\/files\/2018\/11\/CC-BUL-Winter18-34-OrtizRevoltJar.jpg\")
<\/a>Virgil Ortiz, Revolt 1680\/2180<\/em>, traditional storage jar, 2017. Courtesy of the artist.<\/p><\/div>\n Or that, most importantly, Ortiz sees himself as a conduit for his Cochiti ancestors \u2014 both in keeping alive the pottery and art of this Native American Pueblo tribe of New Mexico, and in sharing the history of the Pueblo Revolt of 1680. In what Ortiz calls the \u201cfirst American Revolution,\u201d the indigenous Pueblo people rose up together to overthrow the Spanish conquistadors who had invaded and systematically destroyed much of their home, their religion, and their culture. The Pueblo people would hold the land, what is now the Santa Fe\/Taos area, for 12 years, and are credited with preserving ancient traditions from extinction.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been telling the story of the Pueblo Revolt through all different mediums,\u201d Ortiz says. \u201cIt\u2019s not taught in our schools. It\u2019s not taught in public spaces. It\u2019s not in our history books. Nothing. So it\u2019s basically been covered up or swept under the carpet because of the genocide that happened to our people.\u201d<\/p>\n His current exhibition at the FAC, \u201cRevolution: Rise Against the Invasion\u201d (on view through Jan. 6, 2019), is a compilation of nearly two decades of work, taking the history of the Revolt and telling it through the lens of Native superheroes in a future world.<\/p>\n \u201cI am embarrassed to say that I was not familiar with Virgil\u2019s work until I saw his show at the Denver Art Museum about three years ago,\u201d says Joy Armstrong, FAC curator of modern and contemporary art. \u201cBut I walked into the gallery at the DAM and immediately, it took no time at all, I had a gut reaction to the work that told me this artist has to come to Colorado Springs.\u201d<\/p>\n His futuristic, very contemporary aesthetic appealed to Armstrong personally based on her own interests and expertise as a contemporary curator, but more importantly, she says Ortiz is so profoundly rooted in history and tradition.<\/p>\n \u201cVirgil\u2019s work was a natural bridge between everything that I think our institution represents in terms of honoring and interpreting the past and preserving objects from the American Southwest, but also very much looking to the future and supporting and promoting contemporary artists. There\u2019s a beautiful legacy in his work,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a legacy that Colorado College students have been able to become a part of, thanks to the Mellon residency, a grant-funded program that supports forging deeper academic connections between the college and interdisciplinary arts. When Ortiz arrived on campus at the beginning of the semester, he brought with him a not-yet-complete exhibition. \u201cI didn\u2019t finish all of the costuming for the mannequins, so when I got here, I was able to work with the students on them. They learned how to drape and make the clothing and make the armor out of foam fabrication,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/a>