Biografía:
He was born in Villalba, Puerto Rico, where he also attended elementary and high school. He graduated from the Pontiff Catholic University of Ponce and carried on his specialized studies in the School of Fine Arts at the Puerto Rican Cultural Institute. He made independent studies in Alicante, the Museum of Prado in Madrid and the Jeu de Paume Impressionist Museum in Paris (Louvre). In 1973 during his years in college, he founded the first Exhibition Hall at the Catholic University and dubbed it Albayalde Gallery. While he was teaching back in 1984, he opened the Miguel Pou School of Visual Arts. In 1991, the island nation's Cultural Institute put out a guidebook of artistic appreciation under the title of Learning to Look at. In 1993, he realized one of his most cherished dreams: the opening of a workshop-gallery in a former warehouse in Playa de Ponce. Ortiz juggles several artistic hats. Besides painting and taking care of his workshop-gallery, he also teaches at the School of Fine Arts in Ponce. Through his entire artistic career, he has won different prizes and awards in the such fields as drawing, graphic design, painting and artistic education.
