Artist Spotlight: Amal Montelibano
- Andersen Beck
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
Music coverage is great, but sometimes it seems like I'm preaching to the choir. Pittsburgh bands can draw crowds on their own steam; publicity like mine is hardly necessary in the first place. Pittsburgh has more art to offer than its music though, and I want our local population to recognize the amazing creatives who don't get the main stage. For today's article, I had the pleasure of picking the brain of Amal Montelibano, a young and incredibly talented painter (among other mediums) from our very own Squirrel Hill.
We spent the whole afternoon chatting in her studio, discussing things ranging from her relentless workload as a painting major at RISD and the effect of cold wax when mixed with paint to Buddhism and daily life in Providence, Rhode Island.
"I've been an artist my entire life," says Amal, "We had an art room in the kitchen growing up – that was my room … and I never questioned it, I have always been an artist."
In 6th grade, Amal started school at CAPA (Pittsburgh's school for Creative and Performing Arts, located downtown) and took up a focus in painting. After the COVID lockdowns, she recalls observing friends and colleagues losing interest in the painting program.
"It sorta felt weird to not still be surrounded by people who were as like, 'in it' as I was – like obviously it was fine and I was friends with everyone, but you know, I had my head elsewhere," she says.
Later on in high school, Amal was looking for a change of scenery.
"My friend went to somewhere else for a semester, it was like some special program, I saw him do that and I was like "What?! You can just do that?" so I looked with my mom for semester-long art programs elsewhere, and I found this arts boarding school in California, which was the top rated. I was like "Sure I'll try it out for a semester," and I went and it was exactly what I was looking for. Just literally in the woods, no one else, and everyone's making art … pure focus on this stuff.
Amal finished off her schooling in the mountains of California and prepared to enter art school. She went to a pre-college summer program at RISD (Rhode Island School of Design) and thought she had a shoo-in.
"I was like "Okay so I'm going to RISD," and then they waitlisted my ass," she sighs, "Which is okay, and I actually had this really beautiful moment of self-reflection and growth, and I was like "Okay, I can do other things, education does not control everything, I'm just gonna do what I love," and it was a really beautiful moment of disregard for where I go to school and focus on what makes me happy. And then I got un-waitlisted," both of us laugh.
Amal has undertaken a few commission painting projects over the years and is currently working on painting full interior murals in the Upright Citizens Brigade comedy theatre in NYC. On her weekends in school, she takes the train from Providence to New York and spends the days painting and listening in on whatever event the club is hosting. Though the club is dictating what she is to paint on the walls, she enjoys the challenge.
"I'm playing with perspective, like one-point perspective on two different walls at once, and that was so fun to work out. And it's buildings, and it's black and white again, like oh my God, my kryptonite, but I'm getting paid for it, and it's a motivator to build my skills, especially in places and things that I would never do normally," says Amal.
Of all the art programs across the globe, RISD's is among the most prestigious, and as such, it comes with quite the rigorous workload. Amal gives an outline of a normal day as a student in the painting program.
"Wake up, painting class at 1:10 p.m., thank God. I get breakfast at the Met, the RISD dining hall, which has really good food, thank God … I had my painting class with a whole bunch of my friends at the steps of the painting building, which is just the smoke spot … all my friends always have cigarettes, so there's always like a "Do you want to join us for a smoke before class?" … painting class lasts for like 5 hours, and we get half hour breaks, and every single time we go and get free sushi from a cafe we can exchange points for, and then we just smoke a fuck ton. I think being a RISD student is the worst possible choice you can make for your lungs, and it is completely unavoidable … it's honestly a community building thing, every time I hang out with my friends it's for a smoke break. It's nice, it's like mandated 'hang out with your friends time' … Class ends around dinner, then another smoke break down by the canal, then we go over to my friend's dorm and watch shows forever and keep smoking … That's an exaggeration though, I'm not high all the time, but it's very easy to be. Like I said, it's like a hedonistic utopia – which does get to you a little bit. I'm working on taking the reigns of my life and having self-control or whatever."
Amal grew up with a background in Buddhism and carries some of the philosophy into her art. We got talking about spirituality and how it relates to art and creation.
"I made this piece back in high school that was inspired by Buddhist mandalas, it was a big circular piece … (presenting) the ideas of impermanence, and you know, like brushing the sand mandalas to convey that everything ends, everything is temporary … I grew up on those ideals, so I think about that with my paintings because that is how I think of art a lot. Clearly it's not very archival, but I appreciate more that I brought it into existence than like, "What am I gonna do with it now?" … not a very capitalist idea, I made that piece in high school and I painted over it, that was a piece dedicated to that idea … it'll go away eventually, but it doesn't take away from the fact that it's here and it's cool to look at."
Our interview nearly reached 2 hours in length – which might be a publication record – and we discussed so much that even condensing it for a profile would make a half-hour read, but I hope I achieved a good, surface level introduction of who Amal Montelibano–the artist–is. You can keep up with her incredible art output by following her instagram, and be on the lookout for cool future projects to come!
Also there is so much more work of hers I wish I could include in this piece, but after soon-to-be one year of operating this website (!!!), I am nearing my limit for cloud storage and will soon have to upgrade my service plan :( SO I highly encourage checking her instagram to get a better scope of her work!!
Thank you loyal acolytes, and never stop supporting local art.
-Andersen Beck Founder, Reporter
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