Two oil paintings by Denver artist Michelle Torrez are currently on exhibit at Ambassador James W. Pardew’s residence in Sofia, Bulgaria, under the aegis of the Department’s Art in Embassies Program. Torrez, who focuses on the emotions of the figures she paints, capturing their expressions and movement in rapid brush strokes, will visit Sofia in February 2003. As part of the Art in Embassies Program’s new American Artists Abroad initiative, Torrez will engage in public programming with Bulgarian artists and students.

Since its inception in 1964, the Art in Embassies Program has installed original works of art by U.S. citizens in the residences of U.S. ambassadors all over the world, making American art more accessible to a global audience.