In 2009, Mancos High School senior Amorina Lee-Martinez was the first recipient of the Cortez Cultural Center's art scholarship.
Four years later, she is ready to give back to the organization that has helped fund her education.
An exhibition of her wprl will open on Friday, May 31, with a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Center.
One of the scholarship requirements was that Lee-Martinez return with a show or teach a class.
"Now that I have enough art for a show, it's a good way to give back," she said.
Lee Martinez just finished her fourth year at the University of Colorado-Boulder. She will go back for one more year to finish her double major in environmental studies and studio arts.
Her future plans include pursuing her education through the doctoral level.
"I'm interested in art that educates about the environment."
That's not a new idea for Lee-Martinez, who in her eighth-grade year participated in the Pumas on Parade project. Lee-Martinez was the youngest artist nominated to do the project on her own. On one side of her larger-than-live puma, she painted its home habitat. On the other side, she depicted an industrial setting.
"That was the beginning of my environmental art," she said. "I've recently become very passionate about water in the West.
She also spent a semester studying in Costa Rico last fall, analyzing an animal crossing on a highway and strategizing mitigation, including a sign featuring her artwork.
The Cultural Center scholarship has been inspirational as well as instrumental in helping pay her educational expenses.
"The scholarship was the push I needed to make sure I got a degree in studio arts."
