My name is Larry Stephan Ortiz. An El Paso native, my experiences are shaped by this border town. In 15 minutes I am either in Fort Bliss, or in the city of Juarez in Mexico. I am a proud American citizen, but I carry the color of my heritage in my personality and work. In all reality, I am a person who performed as an actor and found technical theatre. I worked as an event technician at my high school and was one of two student employees in all El Paso. While loving to perform, in college I have decided to focus most of my attention to technical theatre. I have a concentration in lighting and focus most of my time to both light and sound. I have helped load in, circuit, and focus several shows. With professional theatre work and with years of construction experience I am no stranger to hard work. I love theatre; I love to put on a beautiful display of art and to entertain an audience. My passion has always carried me throughout my entire life. There is no greater field to work in my opinion. The combination of fun and excitement you experience in a theatre is only matched by the joy experienced by an audience who connects to a project you work on. Over the past year, especially after interning outside of El Paso, I have come to realize the importance of being a Hispanic artist in the theatre industry. There is a stark difference between the theatre that I have become accustomed to in El Paso versus the remainder of the United States. I am a minority in the United States and that became ever so apparent on my travels. The outreach to minority communities is not impacting the demographics of the theatre industry. There is a certain level of accessibility for people of color that I believe me and other similar minded individuals could spearhead. I am a part of a new generation of artists that can and will change the industry.