Background
Escobar was born in Puerto Rico"s second largest city, Ponce, Puerto Rico, on the southern part of the island.
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Elizam Escobar
Edit ProfileEducation
After Escobar graduated from high school he enrolled and attended the University of Puerto Rico to pursue his artistic studies. In New York he attended the City College of New New York
Career
There he received his primary and secondary education. As a child, he always enjoyed drawing and painting. During his years as a student, he became actively involved in the Puerto Rican independence movement.
After he earned his Bachelor"s Degree in Visual Arts, he moved to New York City.
Escobar also taught art at the Museo del Barrio"s School of the Arts from 1979 to 1980. On 4 April 1980, Escobar was among eleven FALN members arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Evanston, Illinois, under the suspicion of plotting to bomb Federal installations.
They were charged with seditious conspiracy and related charges. During and after the trail he maintained his position that he and the others were prisoners of war.
Escobar was sentenced to a prison term of 68 years which was to be served in the federal prison of El Reno, Oklahoma.
On 7 September 1999, Escobar and the ten other prisoners who were arrested with him were granted clemency by President Bill Clinton. Escobar returned to Puerto Rico immediately upon his release. Escobar is currently the Dean of the Painting Department at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
His paintings have been exhibited in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia and at the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture.
He has authored two books, "Speech in the Night" and "Sonia Semenovena", published by Quinera editors.
Achievements
Politics
He also wrote about art and his theories about art were published in journals like Rethinking Marxism, Third Test and Left Curve.
Membership
He served a lengthy prison sentence after being convicted while a member of the FALN. He became a member of the underground group called Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación Nacional (FALN).
