Roadmap to O-1 Visas
Virtual mentor presentation
Tuesday, November 16, 2021
7–8pm ET
Join Hamiltonian Artists for a panel discussion, Roadmap to the O-1 Visa, with artist mentor Naoko Wowsugi. We will discuss the process of applying for an artist visa aka the O-1 visa in the United States. In support of international artists and art professionals in the US, our panels will address the O-1 Visa process and what an international artist has to go through, examine the role art communities can play, and inspire wider audiences to build solidarity for the survival of international artists. Wowsugi will share her extensive immigration experience and will be joined by curator Adriel Luis and immigration attorney David Camacho.
About
Naoko Wowsugi is a first-generation immigrant and community-engaged artist who lives and works in Washington, DC. Wowsugi's interdisciplinary projects, ranging from conceptual photography to socially-engaged art, explore the nature of belonging and inclusive community building while highlighting and fortifying everyday communal and interpersonal identities.
Wowsugi received an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BFA from both the Kansas City Art Institute and Osaka University of Arts in Japan. Notable exhibitions and fellowships include “Fungus Among Us” at Redux Contemporary Art Center, Charleston, SC (2019); “Ae Kai: A Culture Lab on Convergence," presented by the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Honolulu, HI (2017); "The Outwin: American Portraiture Today," at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery (2016) and The Hamiltonian Artists Fellowship in Washington, DC. (2014–2016).
Adriel Luis is a community organizer, artist, writer, and curator who believes that collective liberation can happen in poetic ways. His life’s work is focused on the mutual thriving of artistic integrity and social vigilance. He is a part of the iLL-Literacy arts collective, which creates music and media to strengthen Black and Asian coalitions, and is creative director of Bombshelltoe, a collaborative of artists and leaders from frontline communities responding to nuclear histories. Luis is the Curator of Digital and Emerging Practice at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, where he advocates for equitable practices in museums and institutions. His ancestors are rooted in Toisan, China, and migrated through Hong Kong, Mexico, and the United States. Adriel was born on Ohlone land.
Luis has curated projects in a range of venues including several museums across the Smithsonian in Washington DC.; MoMA and Pearl River Mart in New York City; Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane, Australia; Silo Park in Auckland, Aotearoa; Atom Bar in Buenos Aires, Argentina; and an abandoned Foodland in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. His writing has appeared in Poetry Magazine, the Asian American Literary Review, and Smithsonian Magazine. He has spoken at the Tate Modern, Yale University, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the China Academy of Fine Arts. His performance venues include the Brooklyn Academy of Music, SXSW, the John F. Kennedy Center, and the American University of Paris. He has a degree in human ecologies from UC Davis in Community and Regional Development and a minor in Asian American Studies.
David Camacho is an immigration attorney who has been working with artists and creative professionals for over a decade. His practice focuses on collaborating with international professionals to obtain their immigration goals in the United States through an efficient and thorough process. Having worked as an actor in theater, and as a vocal performer, David brings his creative background to the forefront when developing and presenting his clients’ cases.
Camacho received his Bachelor’s of Music degree from New York University, studying musical theater and vocal performance at the Steinhardt School. He received his Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University School of Law, obtaining a concentration in Entertainment Law and Intellectual Property. He further received the ABA/BNA Award for Excellence in the Study of Intellectual Property Law. He is admitted to practice law in the State of New York.