Arts and Entertainment

Heard on Campus: Roberto Lugo at the Penn State Forum

Roberto Lugo, professor of Art at Marlboro College, was the guest speaker at the Penn State Forum April 11 at the Nittany Lion Inn Ballroom. Lugo is a potter, social activist, poet and educator. The title of his presentation was "Defacing Adversity: How Scholarship Turns Taggers into Teachers" Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn StateCreative Commons

Lugo spoke at the Penn State Forum on the topic of "Defacing Adversity: How Scholarship Turns Taggers Into Teachers" on April 11, in the Ballroom of The Nittany Lion Inn on the University Park campus. He injected humor and a rap-like dialogue into his message of overcoming the odds to become an artist and using his craft to advocate for and lift up others, particularly in minority and impoverished communities.

Lugo spoke about the fine arts program in the College of Arts and Architecture as being one of the best in the country and conveyed on to the audience how much the faculty really care about their students. He talked about coming to Penn State a broken person and how a phone call accepting him into the college’s master's degree program turned his life around.

"But I think about who I came in being. I was somebody, who at that particular point, who clearly didn’t care about health (referring to not taking insulin for his diabetes). I was somebody who was afraid of reading. I was somebody who was afraid to show my portfolio. Now, I’m someone who travels the country lecturing. I’m a professor two years after graduating. I make three times more with my artwork than I do with my teaching. That’s all because of the confidence the folks here gave me. All because of that. It’s partially because of my work, but If it wasn’t for that reassurance, for that support, I wouldn’t be where I am."

For more information on Lugo's work and goal of teaching diversity through his pottery, click here

The Penn State Forum Speaker Series is open to the general public. This was the last speaker in this year's lineup. For more information about past speakers, visit http://sites.psu.edu/forum/.

Last Updated April 12, 2017

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