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MURIEL BOWSER
MAYOR
March 12, 2026
The Honorable Phil Mendelson
Chairman
Council of the District of Columbia
John A. Wilson Building
1350Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 504
Washington , DC 20004
Dear Chairman Mendelson:
In accordance with section 2 of the Confirmation Act of 1978, effective March 3, 1979 (D.C. Law 2-
142; D.C. Official Code § 1-523.01), and pursuant to section 4 of the Commission on the Arts and
Humanities Act, effective October 21, 1975 (D.C. Law 1-22; D.C. Official Code § 39-203), I am
pleased to nominate the following individual:
Mr. Hector Torres
H Street, SW
Washington, DC 20024
(Ward 6)
for reappointment as a member of the Commission on the Arts and Humanities, for a term to end June
30, 2029.
Enclosed, you will find biographica l information detailing the experience of the above-mentioned
nominee, together with a proposed resolution to assist the Council during the confirmation process.
I would appreciate the Council's earliest consideration of this nomination for confirmation. Please
do not hesitate to contact me, or Steven Walker, Director, Mayor's Office of Talent and
Appointments, should the Council require additional information.
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at the request of the Mayor
A PROPOSED RESOLUTION
IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
15 To confirm the reappointment of Hector Torres to the Commission on the Arts and Humanities.
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17 RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
18 resolution may be cited as the "Commission on the Arts and Humanities Hector Torres
19 Confirmation Resolution of 2026".
20 Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia confirms the reappointment of:
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22 Mr . Hector Torres
23 H Street, SW
24 Washington, DC 20024
25 (Ward 6)
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27 as a member of the Commission on the Arts and Humanities, established by section 4 of the
28 Commission on the Arts and Humanities Act, effective October 21, 1975 (D.C. Law 1-22; D.C.
29 Official Code§ 39-203), for a term to end June 30, 2029.
30 Sec. 3. The Council of the District of Columbia shall transmit a copy of this resolution,
31 upon its adoption, to the nominee and to the Mayor.
32 Sec. 4. This resolution shall take effect immediately.
Hector JTorres
Background
HectorJ.Torres,borninNewYorkCity,conceivedinPuertoRico.
AttendedSt.John’sUniversity,graduated1973withaB.S.in
SecondaryArtEducation.Curriculumdesignerforseveral
communityeducationprogramsfocusingonbilingual,bi-cultural
educationforinnercitypre-schoolagestudents;leadingtotheco-
authorship of a HEW Funded program focused on "Bi-Culturalism"
throughart.Thisprogramwasusedinpre-schoolcentersinthe
South-BronxandotherneighborhoodsinNewYork.
Taughtat JamaicaHighSchoolintheNYCschoolsystem,andpart
timelecturerofArtHistoryatSt.JohnsUniversityaswellas
instructorofstudiodrawingclassesattheMetropolitanMuseum
ofArtinNewYorkCity.
Recentlyretiredfroma49-yearcareerasahotelexecutivein
WashingtonDC,andinNewYorkCity
SetDesignerforthreeGALAProductionsin1991,1992andagain
in 1995
48Years-HospitalityexperienceincludesVice-Presidentfor
CapitalHotels,GrandHeritageHotels,MeristarHotels,Sheraton,
LoewsandGrandMetropolitanHotelsofLondon.
CurrentlyservingontheBoardCarlosRosarioInternationalCharter
School.AdvisoryBoardsofGALAHispanicTheatre,andHave
servedonvariousboards:DestinationDC,WashingtonPerforming
Arts,IdentityandonadvisorycommitteesforCommissiononThe
ArtsandHumanities,andSBA.
AbouttheArtistsWork:
Working in a range of styles,mediums and imagery, representing
worksbothnon-figurativeandabstractallanattempttocreate
worksthatrepresentdiversewaystoexpressandrespondtoa
widerateofinterests.Morethananything,thebodyofwork
manifestwaysofgivinglifetothecreativeprocesscombinedwith
apassionforexperimentationwithcolorandform.
Worksonpaperorcanvasrepresentanexplorationofcolor,
exploitingthecontrastsandharmoniescreatedbycolor,andthe
emotionsandmemoriestheyevoke.Theuseofcolortodefineand
createform,eventheabsenceofsuch.
Oftentheworkstakeonalevelofexperimentationintheformof
assemblagebymixingandexperimentingwithtextures,found
objectsandephemerawithoccasionaljourneystocapturefantasy,
faith,thefamiliarandsentimentality
Manyresonatewithdeepappreciationofartistssuchas,Klee,JeanArp,Cornell,Matisse,Davis,Picasso,Miroandtoomanyothersto
name.However,mostlytheworksofArtistsofthelate40'sand
50'sthathaveinsomanywayslentofthemselvestomyvision
Imagesandworksrepresentanopportunitytorespondtodaily
life,togotoaplacewereforms,rhythm,compositionand
playfulnessexists,ifonlyinthe imagination.“Aplacewhere
realitysimplydoesnotexist,atleastforthosefewandprecious
timeslefttobeinaworldofmyownmaking”.
AnoteofdeepappreciationtoJayHaddock,myHusbandandLife
Partnerof49years,whohasalwaysbeenthereencouragingand
supportiveofmywork,
Exhibitions:
1970
1971
1972
1977
1985
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1995
MuseoDelBarrio,NewYorkCity(groupShow)
NewYorkPublicLibrary,DonnellBranch,NYC
GroupShow“NuevaCultura,AnOdysseyThrough
ContemporaryPuertoRicanArt”
BronxMuseumofthe Arts
BronxMuseumofArt-JuriedShow:Awardwinner
ArtsClubofWashington-Exhibitandlecture
“CalligraphyExpressions”Washington,DC.
SetDesigner“Negritud”forTeatroGALA,Adams
Morgan,Washington,DC
SetDesignfor“RaicesCubanas”forTeatroGALA,
‘AdamsMorgan,Washington,DC
GroupShow,PuertoRicanVisualArtsExhibition,
NationalPuertoRicanCoalition,Inc.
‘OmniShorehamHotel,Washington,DC
HispanicMosaic,SponsoredbyHISPAAT&T
HispanicEmployeesAssociation,Oakton,VA&
Washington,DC
Crucifixions-AnArtExhibitionofWorksbyHispanic
Artists-MoscosoGallery,Washington,DC
SetDesignfor“RaicesCubanasII”forTeatroGALA,
Washington,DC
2002SetDesignfor“SAMBA”A musicalforTeatroGALA,
Washington,DC
1994-2004ContributingArtist/Curatorfor“ArtforLife”
P.A.H.O.OASandMuseumofLatinAmerica.An
ArtExhibit-AuctionBenefittingWhitmanWalker
Clinic
2004-Present:SupportingViaArtContributionsto
FundraisersforCommunityOrganizationsin
Washington,DC
2018-Exhibition-June-GalaHispanicTheatre
2018-Exhibition“Transitions-ColoringMy World”
August6-October26,2018TheGallery
@Children’sNationalHealthSystem
2018-TorpedoFactory—Alexandria,Va.
JuriedGroupShows-November— JuriedShow-
HonorableMention-December-JuriedShow
2019-April-June-GroupShow~“VisionEnergyand
‘Shapes Abstracts” Exhibit ‘ityof Bowie Arts
Committee
2019-InvitedtoandParticipatedinTwoGroupShowings
SponsoredbyWPA, TheLatinoGLBT
Project”inanexhibitiontitled"VoicesofPride”
2019— Exhibition:“ArtAfterDark:Transitions”,
DowntownB.I.D./MoyaDesignPartners— October
15thtoDecember2019
2020 GroupShow:“@THEMUSIC:CelebratingtheLifeandLegacyofQuincyJones”,TheGalleryatChildren'sNationalHealthSystem—January20toMarch27,2020
ExecutiveOfficeoftheMayor—Mayor’sOfficeofTalentandAppointments
JohnA.WilsonBuilding|1350PennsylvaniaAvenue,Suite600|Washington,DC 20004
HectorTorres
Mr.HectorTorresisaPrincipalatAbsoluteHospitality,aself-employedhospitalityconsultant,andafreelanceartist-painter.Hehadalongandsuccessful49-yearcareerintheHospitalityIndustrywhereheservedastheVicePresidentofBeaconHotel& CorporateQuarters,andatCapital
HotelsandSuites.
Inhisretirement,Mr.Torresspendshistimemakingpeoplehappynotonlythroughthehospitalityindustry,butthroughhisoriginalpassionofart.HehasworkedwithDesignFirmsandtheDowntownDC BusinessImprovementDistricttohostshowcasesofhisart.
Workinginarangeofstyles,mediumsandimagery,representingworksbothnon-figurativeandabstract,allanattempttocreateworksthatrepresentdiversewaysto
expressandrespondtoawiderateofinterests.Morethananything,hisbodyofworkmanifestswaysofgivinglifetothecreativeprocesscombinedwithapassionforexperimentationwithcolorandform.
‘AWard6Resident,Mr.TorresearnedhisBachelorsinSecondaryArtEducationfromSt.John’sUniversity.
GOVERNMENTOF THE DISTRICTOF COLUMBIA
ExecutiveOfficeofMayorMurielBowser
wk Ook
WE AREWASHINGTON
ojOfficeoftheGeneralCounseltotheMayor
To: TomasTalamante,SteveWalkerFrom: BetsyCavendishDat January27,2026
Subject: LegalsufficiencyreviewofResolutionsnominatingDemetriusButler,JaniceKim,CarlaSims,andHectorTorresasmembersoftheCommissionontheArts
and Humanities
This isto Certifytnatthisofficehasreviewedtheabove-referencedresolutionsand
foundthemtobelegallyunobjectionable.Ifyouhaveanyquestionsinthisregard,pleasedonot
hesitatetocallErikaSatterlee,Deputy General Counsel,ExecutiveOffice of the Mayor, at202-
724-1303, or me at202-724-7681.
Ap GinElizabethA.(Betsy)Cavendish
TheTowA.WilsonBuilding»1350PonmylvaniaAvene,NW> Sute300”>Washington,D.C30008>