The artist was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to parents who had emigrated from the Caribbean Island of Puerto Rico. Tió received his fine arts training from the University of Cincinnati (M.F.A. 1979) and Temple University (B.A. 1974) as well as post-baccalaureate study with theTyler School of Art in Rome, Italy (1975-76). The artist has exhibited nationally as well as regionally in printmaking, drawing, and painting for over 50 years, and has conducted workshops on mural painting, papermaking and the book arts. Tió has received recognition for his work through exhibition awards and creative research grants from Arts Midwest/NEA, Indiana Arts Commission, Indiana State University Arts Endowment, Ohio Arts Council, New Forms Regional Grant Program, Arts Commission of Greater Toledo, and Bowling Green State University.Residing in Mattapoisett, MA, Tió is a retired Professor of Fine Arts having served on the faculties at Bowling Green State University, Indiana State University, Northern Illinois University, and the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Tió presently maintains Hare of the Dog Press & Studio in New Bedford.
Artwork by Tió resides in a number of private and public collections, including: Brigham and Women’s Hospital Library, Boston, MA; Afro-American Museum and Cultural Center, Chicago, IL; Ateneo Puertorriqueño, San Juan, Puerto Rico; The Rockefeller Foundation, New York; The White House, Washington, DC; Bradley University, Peoria, IL; University of Cincinnati, OH; Denver Public Library, CO; Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, New York; East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN; University at Buffalo, SUNY, NY; The Elvehejm Museum, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Villa Taverna Foundation, Washington, DC; Fort Hays State University, KS; Mexican Consulate Office, Chicago, IL; National Endowment for the Arts, Washington, DC; Ohio Arts Council; The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; La Casa de Libros, San Juan, PR.
Tió has been a long-time member of professional organizations such as the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the College Art Association, the International Council of Fine Arts Deans, the National Council of Arts Administrators, and The Typophiles.
Residing in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, Tió was a Professor of Fine Arts in the College of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
I have always felt torn between two cultures - the suburban middle-class objectivity of my American birth, and the passionate sensitivity of my Latino heritage. I am of Puerto Rican decent, though born and raised in the Mid-West. Most of my life has been spent in middle-class America; the suburbs are my barrio, and English is my primary language. Through the visual arts I have learned that Latino culture provides vibrant means of expressing the legacy of our African, Spanish, and Taino and ancestry.
My use of bright color, rhythmic patterning and expressive imagery offers an opportunity to look back into family history while looking forward through ongoing studio developments. Printmaking, often including bilingual text, offers a visual format that seeks to communicate to a broader, bilingual audience. Through these works, I reach out to my Latino heritage in a concerted effort to expand and enrich my mainstream identity, navigating a balance between these two worlds.
