Ada del Pilar Ortíz was born in Aibonito, Puerto Rico, in 1995 to parents Ada and José. Her mother, Ada Alicia, and her side of the family are from Barranquitas, Puerto Rico. Ada Alicia always dedicated herself to careers that involved customer service, which included working for what used to be Puerto Rico’s leading electricity supplier, the Authority of Electrical Energy (AEE). She is also a person that enjoys planting and gardening. Her father, José, is a military veteran, joining the army at 18 and serving in the Vietnam War. José was also a Post-Master for the United States Postal Service (USPS) for several of the island’s municipalities, including; Cayey, Fajardo, and Barranquitas, where he would meet Ada’s mother. Both of her parents brought children from previous marriages, her mom bringing Georgie, also known as “Chino,” a local barber nicknamed because of his thin eyes. Her father would bring two children of his own, José “Pepe” Ortíz, who is a former athlete who played with the famous Puerto Rican professional basketball player José “Piculín” Ortiz, and Mayte, who currently lives in Florida, and Ada describes as one of the most supportive members regarding her career in the arts.
During their marriage, they had two daughters, Ada Patricia and Ada del Pilar, both named after their mother. The story surrounding her second name, “Pilar,” starts when her parent’s marriage begins. Her father had two children from a previous marriage. When Ada and José married, both families combined and, for a time, lived in the same household. Ada del Pilar’s older sister from her father’s side, Mayte, had a friend named Pilar, which her mother eventually met. Upon hearing the name, she fell in love with it, finding it interesting and pretty. When her mother became pregnant with her, there wasn’t much hesitation when it came to choosing her name, Ada del Pilar.
Ada’s parents eventually divorced when she was around 4 to 5 years old, a process which she remembers being very intense for her and her sister, Ada Patricia, as they were a result of the same marriage. This changed the dynamic of her relationship with her parents by living with her mom in Barranquitas on the weekdays and spending the weekends in San Juan with her father. On weekdays Ada’s mom would lead a strict household with high expectations dreaming of raising young dedicated, responsible women who were ready to face any situation that could come their way, a successful endeavor. Because of this, both sisters were encouraged to help with household chores and to complete their schoolwork, leading to excellent grades in school. Ada’s excellent qualifications in primary school would lead her to be bullied by other classmates, being, up to a point, outcast as the “smart girl.”
Ada had always felt that this somehow stunted her from developing specific social skills when she was a kid, which impeded her from making friends and resulted in her being secluded at her house doing chores, schoolwork, or studying during that period. This isn’t to say that her life with her mom was all serious and no play; one of Ada’s favorite memories when she thinks of her family are the gatherings at her maternal grandmother’s house, which don’t occur much as she has since passed away. She remembers the Christmases with her uncles, cousins, siblings, nieces, and nephews and how this house was the center of it all when planning a celebration. Creating a fun environment filled with dancing and family jokes wasn’t hard with a family of multiple musicians. Besides the holidays, one of the things that brought the family together, like many others in Puerto Rico, was the sport of Boxing. In this huge and important event, many homes get filled with friends, family, and even neighbors, Ada’s family was not exempt from this dynamic. She remembers how her brother would buy the PayPerView on DirectTV, and suddenly, her grandmother’s house was filled, inside and out, with people watching the fight; it was a huge event and one of the memories she holds closely with much endearment.
On the other hand, the weekends would be a different experience, spending time with her father and discovering the “world,” not necessarily socializing but seeing what was outside her hometown of Barranquitas by visiting other municipalities in Puerto Rico and seeing the coast and its beaches. She enjoyed spending time with her father’s side of the family, including time with her aunt Carmen. The latter was an arts and crafts teacher and would teach her how to make things while at the same time gathering an obsession with reading Oriental Trading catalogs her aunt would use to buy things for the church’s children. Hilariously, Ada would sometimes visit her just because she wanted to look at the catalogs. But it is with her dad that she has an experience she can’t forget; having explored parts of the island with him, he would introduce her to food as well, always remembering a particular day when her father took her right outside of the Hiram Bithorn Stadium in San Juan Puerto Rico. Ada can easily recall being next to the Roberto Clemente Coliseum and seeing the floor-level fountain that would spout water upwards; that reminds her of the one found at Plaza del Quinto Centenario in Old San Juan, which she would see almost every day in her college years. That is where her father bought her, and she ate her first Alcapurria, a local Puerto Rican fritter dish made of green bananas, yautia, achiote, and meat. An experience she found to be magical and mind-blowing.
Things for Ada changed when she left this primary education stage and entered the secondary stage, middle school. After her mother enrolled her in a school in the nearby town of Naranjito, Ada began developing social skills that allowed her to create and remain in a close circle of friends that made her feel accepted for the first time. A feature she attributes to the changing of school as the town is, in her perspective, a very socially oriented place. Ada maintained most of these friendships throughout High School as she remained in Naranjito for it. Now, staying in Naranjito for High School came with its challenges. Her mom expected her to attend the same school as her sister and pursue a vocational program that would orient her in Business and Data Entry, eventually entering the same workforce and career her mother had. Ada was not interested in this, ultimately breaking a pattern within her household. Ada took it upon herself with the help of her father to defy her mother by secretly enrolling in another vocational school, the Rubén Rodríguez Figueroa Occupational and Vocational Department High School, under their Graphic Design program. A decision she found difficult to confront her mother about, but after a few discussions, some heated and very emotional, her mother ultimately accepted. Besides being able to carry her friendships through high school, it is here where Ada would be introduced to her first art courses with introductions to computer software programs like Adobe Photoshop and illustrator. This became Ada’s first step towards entering the art world and eventually pursuing a professional career in the arts.
