Michelle Angela Ortiz & Roberto Lugo

Love + Grit

When it comes to visual arts in Philadelphia, Michelle Angela Ortiz is a local legend. Her work has been presented in all forms — on canvas, lightboxes, building walls and now TV screens with her first documentary, “Las Madres de Berks.” The New York Times recently shouted out the Moore College of Art grad with South Philly roots for her work in the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s New Grit exhibition. Also featured in The New York Times and on this episode of the podcast is Kensington-born Roberto Lugo, known as “The Ghetto Potter.” Roberto is reinventing the idea of fine China and will install a mural in honor of The Roots’ Black Thought on the Clay Studio building opening in Olde Kensington in spring 2022.