About The Artist

MIRTA TOLEDO purediversity@hotmail.com Toledo is a native of Argentina who moved to the United States in 1988. She graduated from the National School of Fine Arts Prilidiano Pueyrredón and National School of Fine Arts Manuel Belgrano in Buenos Aires. She also earned a degree in Painting from IUNA (National University Institute of Art) in November 2011.She has exhibited her artwork in Argentina, Bangla Desh, Brazil, Bulgaria, Colombia, Greece, Malaysia, México, Spain and the USA. She has won 23 awards for her drawings and sculptures in her native country. In 1997 she was recognized as Outstanding Woman in the Arts and was honored with the Estrella Award by the Hispanic Women’s Network of Texas in the USA. Since 1993 she gave conferences about the diversity of beliefs, languages, traditions, races and lifestyles and their celebration, called "Pure Diversity: A quest for Identity" and they took place at Barnard College in New York, University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, University of Maryland at College Park, Texas Woman’s University of Denton, among others in the USA. From 1993 to 2002 she was very eclectic in her activities: she has served as juror for Art Competitions, authored the novel "La Semilla Elemental" and a collection of short stories, "Dulce de Leche", and secured several book covers. She worked as a reporter for the Fort Worth Star Telegram and as a Curator for an Art Gallery in Austin, Texas. From 2003 to 2005 she focused in her paintings that were permanently exhibited at Mi Casa Gallery in the South Congress area in Austin. She also worked as Art Instructor for LUPE ARTE, a nonprofit organization. In March 2007 Toledo moved back to her country. At the end of that year she participated for the first time in a mail art call: 1st International Mail Art Exhibition in Thessaloniki, Greece. Since then she has participated in many calls from all over the world. She says about her work: "Art is a magical tool that I use in a quest for identity. Through my sculptures, paintings and drawings, I show the beauty that exists in human differences, developing a theme of work that I call Pure Diversity. Although the mass media imposes cultural ideals, humans are diverse and creative. Diversity is the treasure of humanity; this is the message that I communicate with my body of work."