The Mural

Public art is a piece of a community, a part of work that shows either a group's struggles or history. The work people make related to public art is essential to the city of Chicago, and I took a class called Drawing Lines to see why. In my class, students and I learned about policies around communities, history of residents and environments, and how groups of people displayed their frustrations through their art. The class also went to countless field experiences that focused on policy, how art could evolve, and the creation of artwork. My favorites were The Chicago Museum of Design, the streets of Pilsen, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, "The Power of Places" by the Obama Foundation, and a walk within New City. We also spoke with Rich A., who helped us through some of the field experience with his own experience and prepared for an upcoming project.

For a final project, the class supposed to design a mural for the Near Northside, an area that used to be the infamous Carbine Green. We separated into groups and interviewed several people of the community, understanding their needs, and what the residents knew. I'm proud of the research I did and the work I made from that research. However, I wished my class interviewed a variety of people with different job titles.

 JN,The Lincoln Park, own ,2019

    This art piece is for those who aren't aware of the complex history of the Near Northsidewe as it was considered the first "bad" neighborhood in Chicago. Known as "Little Hell" during its birth, it housed Italian & german immigrants in 1820. It had multiple gang wars throughout its lifetime. As different groups such as Puerto Rican and African-American entered the community, the original members gave backlash as hard as they could. Groups slowly became neutral, and the violence cools down during WWII. After the war, the housing project was fully built, and policies were made to segregate the European and African American communities. The European descent left for the suburbs, and the "Cabrini Green" era was born. Due to such policies and the restrictive feeling of space, violence was brought back up that was last seen 80-90 years prior. Despite the hard push from the residents, the city during the 90s decided to destroy the community, pushing gentrification and building "New City." The original residents were relocated with new residents aware of the history of before.

For the project, we went around the neighborhood, taking pictures and writing responses from the residents of New City. We found out that most were oblivious to history and didn't live in the area because it was too expensive. One person considers the area not to be a community because the people living there kept to themselves. Some didn't enjoy the streets felt artificial, while others felt great about the neighborhood because of the lack of conflict. It was a contrast between ages because of the overall ignorance of the young. There was also remorse of the Cabrini Green buildings and questions on what happened to its people.

This piece addresses the needs of ignorance and remorse. Not only did we show the destruction of Cabrini Green, but also the large brand stores that now sit on top of what used to be. The history of these communities includes these brands, and we decided to show them to take a "homey" feeling that could have been there in Lincon Park. Overall, we tried to address the need for education for the newcomers and remind the old comers of Cabrini. The piece is a memorial to what was Cabrini Green and how it was almost taken out of existence.

We decided to use the 2D mural as it looked like a timeline and showed contrasting styles for emphasis on different parts of the piece. There are three parts of the section; Cabrini Green, the abandoned church in New City, and New City. There is more color on Lincoln park compared to the other parts, but it feels too clean and almost artificial. Cabrini Green is white, feeling set in one state of time while being demolished. The church is supposed to be the final piece of Cabrini Green as it is between two worlds. However, where the cross on the church initially was, there's a person melted within the church. Unlike all the other items in the piece, he is drawn dramatically and given an epic feeling. He has one fist up, symbolizing the pride for his community and the hand asking for charity as his village is becoming destroyed for development. The church, still staying on both worlds, is implied to be killed like the rest of Cabrini Green. 

A Circular Discussion

When trying to push for the community, one must " How can we push towards the future and what is the best way to do so?". This is what my class “Econ: Risk Value” tried to understand. For the second unit of the class, we focused on circular economies, equations based on economic models, ways that people could be better with the environment. We also went to Rheaply and read Donnut Economics for a better understanding.

For this Action Project, we were told to make a symbol for our own economic principle and then explain it. I choose nostalgia as I believe it could be a powerful tool for a large number of people. The problems I had on this project juggling it with other different projects at the time. I also had trouble finding ways to shorten my words for everyone to understand. However, I did enjoy studying the subject.

Images are the force for economic thinking, as stated through Donut economics. "The most powerful stories throughout history have been the ones told with pictures” (Raworth,17). However, in a world where it is hard to pinpoint the exact trend or symbol of the public before the trend itself died, economists must find ways to connections of people who are hesitant to new ideas. A solution could be the nostalgia of popular art styles, animations, gameplay, or specific eras. The use of nostalgia correctly could be a powerful tool for an economist.

JN "Nostalgia" thenounproject.com, Nov 17, 2019

During the 20th century, parts of pop culture were capitalized by companies. However, the video “Nothing Defines the 2010s” describes how this method is obsolete in the digital age. A solution companies found is the nostalgia of certain trends. A 21st-century economist could do the same in promoting circular economies and also bring the reflection for the public.

Linsdey Ellis, a video essayist, describes the three types of nostalgia in films: reflective, deconstructive, and reconstructive. Economists could demonstrate harmful economies by showing unaffected/affected communities. Film and images are the best media for demonstrations as Donut Economics states. “Images, on the other hand, go directly into long-term memory where they are indelibly etched”. The American Psychological Association transcribed a study on nostalgia with “1,675 features listed and then sorted ...into groups(60) ...34 groups of synonymous (to) desirable features” and concluded, “nostalgia may be uniquely positioned to offer integrative insights across several important facets of human functioning..”. Nostalgia has the ability for reflection of a person, so to use nostalgia towards a harmful system wouldn’t be a stretch.

During a meeting in Rheaply headquarters, an employee lectured of the goal of the company: “hopefully gravitating towards a culture..better utilize our resources will overcome the pettiness of a rival like that”. I believe a person, whether a common worker or CEO, could be affected through nostalgia and let their guard down cooperate. Though nostalgia, we can create a strong future.

I feel like this AP is a wake up call for me. I could have work the whole day on this but instead I was focused on other things. This was a fairly simple AP, yet I did this at the last minute and I suffered the consequences of it. So from now on I'll try to save space for my school work and prioritize it from other work.

Clay Routledge "Nostalgia: Content, Triggers, Functions"American Psychological Association, 2006, Nov 16, 2019

Ellis L "Stranger Things, IT and the Upside Down of Nostalgia" youtube.com, Youtube, Dec 4, 2017, Nov 16, 2019

"Nothing Defines the 2010's" youtube.com, Youtube, Dec 9, 2018,  Nov 16, 2019

Raworth K "Donnut Economics" Penguin Random House, 2017, Nov 16, 2019

Tierney J "What Is Nostalgia Good For? Quite a Bit, Research Shows" nytimes.com New York Times July 8, 2013, Nov 16, 2019

The Work of an Animator.

All around you, you see events based on the hard work of past generations who pushed the norm. But even though you recognized the main figure of an idea, you don't notice the people behind them. They could be the voice of a generation without you even knowing it. These "Voices of a Generation" is what my class, Journalism, had studied about. In the class, students learned the uses of audio through a technical standpoint and a narrative standpoint when creating a piece of art. Students also learned about the importance of journalism and its impact, such as spreading new ideas. The class also had a professional audio engineer in the last week to help students with projects.

For a final project, students had to create a narrative about a "voice of a generation" based on the Ira Glass’ storytelling requirements. I choose John Hubley, an animator who help found the UPA and pushed from more diverse animation. The difficulty was writing the podcast without being bio of the "voice of a generation" and the pleasure was seeing the perspective of peers and what they believe this person represented.



Here is a link to my transcript

A Business Woman's Meaning of Life

The understanding of life is subjective based on a person's history, philosophy, mental process and many others factors in life. To understand a person's meaning and visualize it through photography is what my class Journalism taught over the past few weeks. My classmates and I learned about subjectivity and objectivity,  how photos affected the world around us, and grammar to prepare us for college. We also attended the Chicago Ideas Week for a talk on Journalism and the current political atmosphere. In this unit, Image, we had to interview someone who was willing to tell us their meaning of life and take a photo afterwards. I had interview Dolly Zea, a saleswoman and a business adviser at several different companies. I am proud of interview I did as it contained nuanced information and I was stressed on the original time limit the project was originally due.

It was close to the middle of the night, and we were both tired in a car. My mother and I both came from a long day with little sleep from the night before. I saw her, looking out the window to the road ahead as I planned to interview her about her meaning of life. She already knew I was going to ask her questions for a school assignment, and she persisted for me to bring them up. We were stopped by a train and waited for it to pass by. After thirty minutes, I decided to conduct the interview.

With hesitation, I asked her in Spanish about the meaning of life? After interpreting and finally understanding my broken accent, she took a silent moment and began to talk in her language:

“What is my meaning of life? My meaning of life is my family, my kids. My meaning of life is to help others in need. It is to create a proposal. To have a proposal to wake up every day. A proposal to be a better person, a better mother, a better wife. To be a better companion, to be a better daughter. To be a better boss. To try to do things-every time better. To live life simple and to enjoy every moment of life well.”

JN, "Mother Sitting" web, 2019

The most interesting word to was “proposal”, and she used it throughout the conversation. I enjoyed that it was phrased where it wasn’t fact but a hope for something better. It showed a level of uncertainty that, when we were all younger, we never thought of. To understand the word better, I asked if she thought about her meaning and if her proposals are conscious or if the word “proposal” was built to deep into her that she didn’t need to think.:

“I always think about it. Every decision I take. The consciousness is to think about what to do and the consequences of what happens. That is the consciousness. It doesn’t matter if I do good or bad. My consciousness will state that the action will have an impact.”

The thought I had was how the intent of an action was secondary to the implication based around her comment. It wasn’t for a while until I understood why this comment upsets me because, as an artist, meaning is the strongest part of a piece. So taking out the meaning of an art piece would only take away the implications it brings from said meaning. Therefore, there is no action created by the artpiece, and it is rendered useless.

Throughout the interview, there were words I didn’t understand. There was one word, “madurez”, that piqued my interest, and I hadn’t heard of it when she first said it. I asked her what it meant and she said, “It is to see error in your life and to fix them every time. All the errors, I learned not to commit them.” I was intrigued, but still confused. So I asked if she knew an example. “Yes. Before I thought, for example, when I was young, I didn’t believe I was going to die. Now, I enjoy every moment of life because many people, at the conner, because of their age, are dying.”

An hour after the interview, I learned the word ”madurez” was “maturity” and that when I realize the core of her meaning. The ability to reflect whenever possible. The ability to reflect on a decision and factor in how certain elements lead to certain scenarios. To realize your time and how to spend it with others. For the final question of my interview, I asked my mother how she would imagine her meaning as an image.

“I would be in thought. I would be in thought because I’m a creative person. I’m always thinking. I would be with my family. I’m in a beach with you three.”

My shutter speed, which measures the motion of the frame, was at 60 frames per second for the focus. The aperture, which measures the light on the lense, is at 3.4 since I wanted to show natural daylight. For the rule of thirds, the main focus was my mother since she alines directly on the left side of the frame on the graph (of the rule of thirds). She also has two rays of light (the kitchen and sun) over her while most objects of the frame only have one source of lighting.

After finishing my breakfast the next morning, I saw my mother working a notebook with concerned thought. I opened the curtains (she noticed) and I warned her about me taking a picture. She ignored me and looked down on her notebook silently.

The picture has more subjectivity than objectivity. It shows my mother not only in focus, but in reflection as she stares to a blank piece of paper. Yet, in the background, she thinks about her family based by the treehouse. People could interpret my mother as either planning to write something down or having nothing to say. Either way, both interpretations include the treehouse, which also mean child-related/ideas of past in the background while she is working now.

I knew how the words “proposal” and “consciousness” worked in her mind without her stating them. She was always working since childhood. At times, I would also use the “proposal” method when I’m dealt with uncertainty. But what I found surprising was how she thought of her mortality. As a child, I resemble my mother mentally compared to other siblings. Yet, even when I was young I knew death was inevitable.. I hadn’t heard much from my mother’s childhood besides that she was hardworking and I have only seen passive people of my age deny their mortality. To see that contradiction makes me who if her original description was just hiding all the errors.

The College Job

There is a difference when understanding a job and a hobby. Though both include working with effort and also bringing a person joy, a job can advance you to a higher position or different field while a hobby normally could not. This is what my class, Economics, studied for an assignment. This includes understanding how coding/calculations worked with jobs, history/events which lead to the downfall of the US economy like the Housing Crisis, and understanding why certain events came to be based on statistics. We also went to Chicago Lyft Headquarters and studied algorithms on Chicago Ideas Week.

For the assignment, each individual researched their own personal job interest and see what college or career paths they could use. The assignment has a short video and a slideshow describing the details of my person job interest (animation). 

What I enjoyed the most and struggled the most was the animation. Though I originally didn't intend to create an animation, I realized this would be the perfect assignment to create an animation. However, it was a struggle for me that didn't give me much joy was the spreadsheet calculations. The code would be confusing to follow.

 (Note: The figures stated in the video is incorrect. It is actually 23 years and 19 years for the schools)

The Hospital Expansion

Anyone has the power to be a reporter, but only those who understand the rules of journalism laid down decades before will provide the best service to their people. That is what my class, Journalism, was taught for the past few weeks. The class learned about the 5 principles of journalism, leads, and the morality journalist must have when working in the field. We went to the Weinberg Newton gallery to understand reporting through the arts.

For this project, each person had to research a story based around their community. I decided to research the St.Anthony hospital expansion and how the perspectives of the two main characters in charge changed. I'm proud of the researched I produced and I struggle with receiving direct quotes from Alderman Rodriguez and Mr. Sifuentes.

St. Anthony Hospital ,Google,, bisnow.com,  2017, 2019

On August 21st, announcements of St. Anthony Hospital told of an expansion at a lot on 31st Street and Kedzie Avenue. However, Lucky Camargo and others opposed the expansions from the hospital for fear of gentrification during a community meeting in Little Village discussing the project. Even though there were 1,500 signatures from Little Village residents supporting the Hospital Expansion, new concerns have risen and Senior Vice President (of Mission and Community Development) Mr. Sifuentes and the 22nd Alderman both considered the concerns of residents.

Plans started in 2012 with the City of Chicago’s Community Development Commission (CCDC)voting in favor of construction for the new division of St. Anthony. Not only considered a branch to the hospital, but it would also include a student campus, several shops, fitness centers, and several community-oriented services-all totaling to a 600 million dollar project. Meanwhile, several people from the community opposed in hope for a new high school on that land since the was home to Washburne Trade School ten years earlier. There is also the film studio, Cineplex, bidding on the land for their own development plans. Several community members such as Lucky Camargo and Raoul Contreras believe that the city should sell the land to none.

On September 24th, Mr. Sifuentes was interviewed to see his thoughts after the conference. Though he understands the concerns, his position is on the belief that the majority considers the Hospital as a positive. When asked how the structure would try to lower the risk of gentrification, his response was the project was already preventing gentrification since the beginning. “The shops are already placed on the second floors rather than ground level, so it would be unlikely that the problem of gentrification would arise outside of that area if the extension is already contained” He also claims to have lower prices for citizens of little Village as another solution to prevent the problem. However, he states there hasn’t been many compromises for the rights to the lot nor will there be any as the project will follow through.“ This lot has been here for 20 years and nothing has been done about it…. There is little to no compromise to what’s going to happen in the land”.


On September 25th, Alderman Rodriguez was asked about what he thought about the community’s mindset. He promoted the claims of a majority vote by recalling the community conference in Little Village on August 21st. “There were 200 people that attended that meeting.. Over 180 responded to the survey… only four people responded that they didn’t want the hospital”. However, unlike Mr. Sifuentes who believes the project will come to full fruition, Mr. Rodriegez states that the project is still standing and being weighed over by the city. “There were to applicants that are being considered by Chicago Public Schools, St. Annothy and Cineplex...those are the only two applicants that are being considered by Chicago Schools...and that’s where it stands now.” During the interview, it seems that Alderman Rodriguez will be taking action in order to prevent gentrification during the construction of the hospital expansion.


Attempts have been made to reach the opposition of St. Anthony and there have been no connections as of right now. However, it seems the community is on hold for the expansion and Chicago Public Schools are still in the process of which private entity will take the lot: Cineplex or St. Anthony. There doesn’t seem much worry coming from the community, however, new events could always rise within the upcoming months.

The Jewish-Islam conversation

During the past 8 weeks, I had learned within an Independent Study trying to understand the relationship between Islam and Judiasm. I had went to the Chicago Synagog and IMAN to meet important figures such as Mr. Evans and Mr. Zin. I also read books on Islam and Judiasm such as when bad thing happen to good people and many more books.

link

The Lemon Commandment.

Policy is a trend where laws are produce from the culture our society creates. When it comes to the the policies of religion, one could argue that the "separation of church and state" has either grown or withered. This is I'm studying during my junior year in the class Policy. During this class, cohorts and I studied several laws that were created through what culturally happened during that time. This included the Vietnam War, WWI, and the recent war on Libya. We went to Cook County Criminal Courthouse, The National Veteran Art Museum, and much more.

What we did for a project was to research a supreme court case and how it affected the citizens of the US. We also had to identify the thesis listed for the plaintiff and defendant on why the subject of the court case was constitutional (or not). For my project, I choose McCreary County (Kentucky) v ACLU due to the interesting arguments used within the case. The struggle I had with the project was time but I enjoyed learning about the rhetoric placed on the case.

Web

The Love of Urban

F . L. Olmsted once quoted "Parks are the lungs of the city" in his work during the World's Fair and overtime more cities began to realize the importance of this quote. Urban planning is the combination of forest and city as it makes a more healthy environment in terms of productivity and citizens. Throughout this term, Olmsted's words is what my class and I had tried to learn. We had learned the basic of trigonometry and volume to figure out space of an environment. We also learned the science and history behind how to handle a dense city. We went to MSI to understand electricity and what technology was used during Olmsted's time.

What I had to do within the class was to pick an environment that wasn't used and create a preposed idea on what could be done to it. I had choose a vacant lot next to my home and measured it out by hand. The struggle was when I measured the lot multiple times and problems took more time than I hoped for. However, I am proud of this plan since it I had thought about urbanization before the assignment was announced and I now have a basis for the project.

Overall, I'm pretty proud of what I've done. I worked hard on the calculations but had a discomfort while finishing the measuring. If I followed up on this project, I would look at the cost and supply of the park. I also would ask if the whole community would actually want this park to be made. I would use watercolor to visualize the park in an unique and professional way.

Ecological Volunteer StewardShip

Through 2018, I attended the Palos Hill Forest Preserve in such task as cutting down invasive species, understanding the environment around myself such as plants and animals, and learning the perspectives of different volunteers at the forest. I worked with Jan Pietzak and Cindy. K. Kinda to polish these forests along with countless other volunteers in my area. I normally work on Sundays either between 9 to 12 or 1 to 4 depending on where the service is needed and have volunteer a total of 36 hours. There is no exact forest I normally Volunteer in, but I have gone to Black Partridge Woods, Swallow Cliff Forest, Hickory Hills Woods, and many more. The email of Mr. Pietzak is janaugust@sbcglobal.net.

JN, "Proof", Own Work, 2019

The Inconceivable Victory: Vietnam

War is hard to understand as it uses tactics to eliminate as many people possible for an idea or property of land. However, a challenge of a historian is to see the rhetoric of the war and the policies it had to see how the conflict escalated. This includes laws, resolutions, or acts any government has contributed to help the war keep going. This is what my class, Policy, has studied since the beginning of spring and will continue to study until the end of Junior year. We had also gone to several Aldermen throughout Chicago, read several books such as A People's History of the United States/ The Things the Carried, and read upon the Vietnam War.

For an assignment, class members had to pick a war they believed was unjust or just within US history. However, the problem was these papers couldn't include the war tactics or atrocities but rather policies/ law created to fuel the war. I wanted to, rather than looking online, read my sources on paperback since they contain more information compared to an only article, has been check by a series of people, and edited so the most important information could be placed. I also wanted to write on paper first and then type it out as an extra step for drafting. These were the challenges I faced when studying my war, the War on Vietnam, and I believe I made an convincing argument.

Web

Circuits of the Future

When looking at electricity, we sometimes forget how it works and how much we waste. This is what my class Urban Planning has been looking at during the second unit of our class. In this class, the students had learned about how Chicago once worked, how electricity travels/different types of electricity, and much more. We have also been to such important field experiences such as the Museum of Science and Industry to learn about the World's Fair and electric currents.

What students had to do for this project was to create a metaphorical circuit for a supposed home using visuals and an actual circuit kit. They also had to pair with partners to do this project. I would say the hardest problem during this project was the measurements and conducting of the decoration and the most admirable thing was the power of the circuit.

Understanding electricity is important when it comes to urban planning because you must understand how to save the most energy so it could be used for other things. So when you have an energy source that is free for the taking, you could use it to better the environment not only to yourself but also your community. That is my hope when people see this project.

A Letter for a Legislator

The government of Chicago (as well as the government of US) gives us the right to recommend and vote for certain policies/laws to better help our society. However, creating laws takes time and effort over a series of committees that modify the original policy so it could fit for everyone. Before the policy/bill is brought to congress or city council, it is introduced to a committee that will approve for a bill so it could move to the next step. This whole process is what I learned at GCE lab school in the class called "Policy". Besides the information on how the legislative branch works, I also learned about the constitution, WWI, and much more. Me and my class also went to the 40th ward to meet Andre Vasquez and learn about the political system in Chicago.

 What each individual did for this project was creating a letter to our alderma n (or senator) based around a policy we cared about. The policy had to be within the committee our legislator was in and our job was to convince said legislator to approve the policy . I written my letter based around the new chapters on the "Bird Friendly Ordinance" that create guideline for new buildings near wildlife or in migratory paths. I used a combination of logos, ethos, and pathos to convince my reader on the the subject and why it matters.  After writing this paper, I am proud with the work I did because of how smoothly the process of writing this paper went. I am disappoint however that I didn't use any homemade visual to make the AP more appealing. Still, there could always be next year.

Kyle Hanson"Chicago Birds Flying Skyline" fineartamerica.com, FINE ART AMERICA, Web,
No Date, April 26, 2019

RACHEL KAUFMAN "Chicago Introduces Bird-Friendly Building Ordinance"nextcity.org, Next City, Web,February 13, 2019, April 26, 2019

Ruppenthal "Chicago is Most Dangerous City for Migratory Birds, Study Finds" wttw.com ,         WTTW, Web, April 4, 2019, April 26, 2019

Sean Kennedy " Chicago’s Killer View: The Skyline’s Toll On Migratory Birds" wbez.org, Curious City, Web, May 2, 2016, April 26, 2019

And They Tumble Down.

Structure is important when it comes to the safety of people and that is true when these structures are bridges or pathways. This is what my class, Urban Planning, has done at GCE lab school. We learned about the importance of scale, trigonometry, and the science behind tension/compression. We also went with Metropolitan Planning Council to understand what resources could be used under the city and why people are not using those resources at the moment.

For a project, we built a bridge (popsicle sticks) that could withstand ten pounds and also have the lightest amount of sticks, a powerful structure, and compete against the class. I worked on this project with my friend, TM, who did most of the building, slideshow, and so much more while I labeled the drawing and did the calculations. In short, I couldn't have done this without her and she was grand when working on this project. The problem I regret was the reconstruction of the bridge with certain parts that were either too tight in the pressure or didn't fit well.

When looking at this project, I wish I'd done something more visual. However, I'm already planning to create something grand for another project in the year. Still, I wish I could add more structure to the lower bridge so the bridge could gain better support. Even though it would be more stable, my partner believed it wasn't necessary and would be too time consuming/complex for us to be finished. So as always, a factor when dealing with the project is time. So imagine if we had to create a real bridge.

Here is a link to TM

Independent study

As an atheist, the study of religion is fascinating because it allows a person to ask "Why is this followed?" or "What is the appeal?". Furthermore, it creates a sense that you're understanding the history of the world and of yourself as you read through the text. This is why I took an Independent Study on Tibet Buddhism, where I worked on understanding the religion and what it stands for within the latest unit of my school. I also learned about grammar, understanding structures of essays and sentences, and viewing the history of Tibet Buddhism. This lead myself and my instructor to Midwest Buddhist Temple, where we learned about the philosophy of shin buddhism and what the religion creates belief upon.

For a final project, I constructed (with the help of my instructor) an essay on Buddhism, asking the question "If Buddhism is a religion, where is its god?".  To prepare, I called different churches with different perspectives asking them about religion, and how they define it. With grand results, I am proud of my project after the multiple trials of writing and rewriting, understanding structure of essays, and much more. I also felt this class connected to my Humanities class, since the essay process was inspired by what was taught by my Humanities teacher. Overall, it was a terrific experience learning about religion, and I am planning on redoing another course.

Printmaking at Palette and Chisel

I (JN) attended the Palette and Chisel Academy for the arts in Chicago IL and for have completed four works of printmaking. I have attended the open house between February 12 to March 19 in 2019 on Tuesdays between 5:00- 7:30 with the coordinator Torsten Muehl for a total of 12 hours. The number for Mr.Muehl is 1 (708) 209-1816. The email is torartmeal@aol.com

I practiced the following printmaking procedures :

- Printmaking with linoleum relief prints

JN "Kitty fox" no website, March 25, 2019

- Working with technical cutting skills and personal safety

- Using advanced tools such as edging press and hand print techniques

- Registration

- Usage of color

- Experiment of color

- Reduction Printmaking

- Completing total of 4 projects.

Even though I had been learning the technical-ness of the instruments and history of printmaking, I believe what I got the most out of it was the community within the class. Understanding to communicate different people outside of my age, learning from their mistakes in both printmaking and in real life, and how their passion for the art connects to the history and those who create the art.

Just Let the Minutes Melt Away

Time is an important structure within our society and it is our job as humans to create either efficient or fun ways of measuring time. This is what my cohort in Light, Sound, and Time is trying to understand within this unit of the class. The 11th grade class at GCE has been studying various measurements in time, trigonometry, the fabric of space, and much more. We had also advanced our learning through going to the Adler Planetarium and having a special guest providing more information upon the subjects.

As a class, we had studied different ways to measure time and how to understand it. This all brought us to individually propose a device that measures time and each of us had to visualize certain aspects of the device. We also had to include scientific facts that spread either outside or inside the classroom in order for the device to seem more realistic. What I proposed was a clock that measured time through the melting of ice. However, rather than create a video, I decided to animate clips of my device as well as rotate it so any person could gain a better view.

 
The Ice Clock from Jeimar Neiza on Vimeo.

The animation was supposed to be the bulk of what made the video interesting compared to other videos that my peers did. However, I realize that it would be unrealistic to create an animation that kept changing or is highly detailed. At the same time, I feel like I kept repeating the animations within the video over and over again without much of an idea of how it would feel. In total (including research and writing) the video took more than enough time to make even with the limited animation posted above. It is both what I am proud of, and what gave me disappointment.

Citations

“cubic inches to grams converter” ninjaunits.com, NINJAUNITS, Web. 2019. March 2019

Daniel Zimmermann, “Which Ice Cube Shapes Melt Faster?” sciencing.com, Leaf Group Education,Web, April 25, 2017, March 22, 2019

Kingsley Walcott “HISTORY OF WATCHES: THE WATER CLOCK” .bobswatches.com, BOB'S WATCHES, Web, No date, March 22, 2019

Wayne Smith “Melting ice and its effect on water levels” smithplanet.com, SMITHPLANET, Web, No date, March 22, 2019

The Policing Assemby

When dealing with a people's assembly, the consensus of the group must be prepared rather than the individual. This mean not only to plan, but to question and understand how your group members see the plan. I had to learn this the hard way with my class "A Nation's Argument" at GCE Lab School. In this class, my cohorts and I were to understand pre-era and after era of the civil war and what humilities enslaved people dealt with. It was also understanding the motivation, fallacies, and premises that came along with the arguments presented. However, the greatest challenge for the class was to organize a mini people's assembly within three days. This including the people's research, seating and structure, and topic's committee.

Within this people's assembly, we had to find arguments that were based around the questions and responce the guest and students had. The argument within this clip is of police in CPS. What was difficult for the project was the coordination with the student. At the same time, what felt satisfying was the independence given from the instructor and the question produced by the students.

                                      People's assembly at GCE from Jeimar Neiza on Vimeo.

Within the people’s assembly, we mainly talked about policing and public schools. There were multiple points made, and I compiled them into an argument.

Thesis: Due to the environment of urban schools, the roles of police are used within the classroom to prevent outside problems from leaking in (guns, drugs, etc). Not only that, but the police creates a psychological phenomenon where students are aware of the consequences of their actions and will try to do less crime activity near the police. This relationship will create a parent/child dynamic and fuel a feeling of safety for students. Police are also more efficient compared to social workers since they have a “reactionary” mindset for problems within CPS and help kids follow the code of conduct. If all added up, the police could be a strong positive role model and a friend to a student.

Antithesis: Because of multiple police showing up in schools, the fear from students has now been directed more to police rather than criminals. Since students already live within a tough environment, they’re already accustomed to fear for themselves with school being considered a “safe space” for students. Yet, despite being there for protection, police within the schools creates the impression that the CPS school is itself a prison. The role of the “enforcer” in CPS is more fueled by the “reactionary” mindset from officers since the mindset was made for serious threats. Not to mention that police are enforcing the code of conduct to a strict basis as if it was justification for the role they play in CPS. In total, the police themselves are landing in roles that seem to damage the image of an officer to parents and students.

Synthesis: Police should be trained with different resources and to help out students such as social workers do. Police were seen as friend rather than enemy during a period of time, so the old methods and roles should be brought up more. The roles of police should shift for entering classes and teaching students on the access for public safety and justice rather then enforcing students. There should also be the breaking of the “reactionary” mindset, since there is no justification for that treatment on students. The CPS themselves shouldn’t assign a singular role for all officers, but rather different roles for each individual officer to see how officers could help students the best way possible.

It's also better to understand it through syllogism format to understand the points clearly.

Thesis

P1: Due to the environment of urban schools, the roles of police are used within the classroom to prevent outside problems from leaking in (guns, drugs, etc)
P2: The police creates a psychological phenomenon where students are aware of the consequences of their actions and will try to do less crime activity near the law enforcement
P3: This relationship will create a parent/child dynamic and fuel a feeling of safety for students
P4: Police are also more efficient compared to social workers since they have a “reactionary” mindset for problems within CPS and help kids follow the code of conduct.
C: The police could be a strong positive role model and a friend to a student.

Antithesis

P1: Student had depended on school to be a safe environment compared to the environment near their households
P2: Police within the schools creates the impression that the CPS school is itself a prison and that the fear has no escape
P3: The role of the “enforcer” in CPS is more fueled by the “reactionary” mindset from officers and creates security that isn't justifiable for learning institutions
P4: Police are enforcing the code of conduct to a strict basis as if it was justification for the role they play in CPS
C: Police themselves are landing in roles that seem to damage the image of an officer to parents and students

Synthesis

P1: Police were seen as friend rather than enemy during a period of time, so the old methods and roles should be brought up more
P2: The roles of police should shift for entering classes and teaching students on the access for public safety and justice rather then enforcing students
P3: CPS themselves shouldn’t assign a singular role for all officers, but rather different roles for each individual officer to see how officers could help students the best way possible.
C: Police should be trained with different resources and to help out students such as social workers do

Immigrants, We get the Test Done.

I have been going to a class called "Nation's Argument" where a student learns about the US constitution, premises and conclusions, and the history of the US. Not only that, but the class also went to an aldermen assembled meeting that spoke on a new policy created by Homeland Security and the executive branch of the US.
Throughout the term, students had learned about the original Citizenship test which consisted on simple one word answers and had 100 questions randomly selected. This document is a proposal for a new system or format for the test. It tries to not only fix the problems but also make it easier for applicants to engage in the test.
I am proud of the different solutions that I had created during this assignment, as well as the augments and acknowledgement of flaws on the original. However, the indepence given from my teacher on the format did create certain barriers I had to overcome. Still, I hope you enjoy the presentation.

Here is a qoute that connects to my reference on the Declaration of Independence.
".. that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.."

This image below is an unfinished version of a skeleton reading the constitution called The Originalist. The reason the drawing is unfinished is because it represents how I feel about the answers and question on the citizen test. That it feels the structure isn't thoughout, and therefore the question are limiting. Just like this drawing, it is a shame that we have an unfinished test with one answer questions that, despite the fairly simple questions, seem to fail the people that it is supposed to help. 

JN "The originalist" no Website, 2019

Diddley Darn Stick of mine

My second unit of my class - Light, Sound, and Time - has been focusing on how sound works. Sound can be measured with frequency, such as particles hitting upon each other, that are absorbed within the air and processed by our brains. Music, however, is organized sound that we use to create  art to our own liking. If we study this scientifically, we could create our own structures of sound that make certain frequencies.

I enjoy how this class executes the subject and brings real life situations for lessons rather than facts you could easily forget. So far, the class (in this unit) had learned about the how sound travels through air through frequencies and wavelengths, how we interpret and absorb sound, and what frequencies/wavelengths we cannot hear. We had also gone to Chicago Music Exchange to learn about the different instruments that produce very specific sounds with the warping of frequency.

For a major assignment, students had to create a diddley bow and measure what sound it was producing, how it was producing sound, and how to warp the sound through the use of wavelength and frequency. This isn't a project of passion, but the information of the project was interesting to learn about. Not to mention this was an idea that could have been taken further if desired.

JN "Diddley Bow" no website, 2019

How my instrument creates sound is vibrations following along through the first medium, that being string or metal. It then goes into an open and flat space (the can) where the vibrations bounces within said space and then into the open air as the vibrations spread out.

JN "Calculation of Love" no website, 2019

How sound, and by extension, sound waves work is through the vibration of molecules. Mainly, if a force hits an object or even air, it creates a chain reaction where the molecules bounce onto each other in a certain direction. This then creates what is known as a longitudinal wave, in which a part of a wave moves in a condensed area while the two sides between the condensed part are open and flat. Anyway, sound then travels into the ear through the pinna, the vibrations are absorbed by the ear drum, and transferred by ear bones called the hammer, anvil and stirrup. Finally, it enters through the cochlea, where the vibrations turn into a liquid and are transmitted into the hair cells. This then goes to the brain’s process of understanding the sound.

JN "Frequency Calculations" no website, 2019

Here are calculations for the size, area, volume and frequency of my project. Frequency itself is the amount of Hertz listed which is cycles in a second. With knowing the frequency of plucking the string, we change the length of the vibrating string for a high pitch.

JN "Song Caculations" no website, 2019

We also have a recording of myself playing the diddley bow to see how well it would do in a song.

In conclusion, the project was interesting. However, I feel if I had dug deeper, this would have felt more solid to myself and to my instructor. There is a lot of information within the class that reflects through this project, and I am proud to study it within my school as it will be useful later on.

Religious Affairs

Argument has many forms to take whether it be in a court case or simply of dispute with peers. The ideas is not to bicker, but rather to state an opinion with evidence and convince your opponent of your point of view. Bread crumbing them with evidence that seems simple, until you ultimately trap them with your perspective. This is what my class, Argument, has been trying to teach so far within body language, premises and conclusion, and history of the Declaration of Independence. Also understanding lessons through experiences such as Cook County circuit court in for a viewpoint of argument in its fullest form.
What we had done for a project was an argument for an independent study within our own school, GCE. I choose was the argument of comparing different religions to understand why they exist and why a subject should be talk within curriculum. It has always been a topic that I am passionate about and could be justified through the right words. That being it is the right for student to understand these topics.

Lights, Sounds, and Cameras

When looking within a camera, we usually take to advantage the science behind the work. Such things as timing and reflections we never even consider. That is what my class (Light, Sound, and Time) had studied for the first unit of the class. The students had tried to understand light by understanding subjects such as the production of light, the abilities of our eyeballs/it's evolution, and the unit circle (which connects well with frequencies and wavelengths) . We had gone to certain places such as the Latin School of Chicago, the Goodman Theatre, and many more areas of Chicago to study light.

In order to understand light, class members had to create a pinhole camera and see if it would work creating a proper picture. The project was a challenge, but only because most didn't know if the film was a dud or not until the end. However, the project felt awarding as it was well placed within the curriculum, and how the method was simple enough to be practiced.

After observing the effects of the project, I could say that taking the picture would had worked better if I first thought about the box itself rather then the accessories. Granted, it was still much of fun understanding the concepts behind light itself, the material used lacked structure. 

My Favorite Movie

When reviewing a film, one cannot just state "this is bad because I felt" and then leave for the day. They must explain the film with reason and examples that make strong argument for their point. This is what my class, Ollywood, has been learning since the beginning of the course. Certain prompts are within the realm of post-production such being editing, music score, sound effects, and much more within the film. We also went to certain locations such as Gene Siskel Film Center, MorningStar, and many more. Each experience gave the class and me a better understanding on how to interpret the medium.
What we had to do for a project was to create a review and use certain production techniques in order to invest the audience within the video.We also had to talk about interpreting the film with a perspective such as feminism in order to find implications of the film. What made this review hard to do was the edits from recordings limited enough to follow the exceptions of the instructor and audience. However, I am proud of this film and am hopeful that the challenges faced were won over.
The film Wrinkle in Time was directed by Ava DuVernay, produced by Disney, and includes actors such as Storm Reid, Oprah Winfrey, and Deric McCabe. It is mostly from the fantasy family genre and was released during the year of 2018.

Patty Felt

I wasn't really expecting any improving qualties of the largest brand of America when it comes to recycling, but I should have realized better. After all, it is a company that has millions of people buy burgers from them everyday, so it wouldn't be impossible that a group of people would question how so much consumerism is affecting the natural world around them. That is something my class, Biomimicry, and I tried to find out. For this project, we had to understand certain lessons such as closed loop systems, biomimicry, and what scientist are doing right now to solve the amounts of landfills in the US. We had also went to certain trips to different organizations such as The Plant and Interface, as well as meet representatives from Healthy Soil Compost.
For this project, we had to research a large company or item to see what practices were used to create the item. Once found, we would try to think of solutions in order to tie loose ends of the project. This wasn't an extreme project like others, but I am still proud of the solutions I had created and I had trouble finding exact statistic/numbers for the project. Still, I would highly recommend anyone else to research so they can conclude their own findings.

When looking at it, I really do believe McDonalds could create these factors within their plan, and please more people. However, there are parts I hadn’t taken into account that would be the reason why they couldn’t do these things, so I myself ignorant about closing the loop of a world wide company. Still, I wish I had more time (for myself) to add more interesting visuals within the project like the last two. I also wished McDonalds would state their statistics rather than myself gain an estimate from a secondary source. Still, it’s always fun to wonder what something could do to improve.

Palette and Chisel

Within the year of 2018, I (JN) had attended an organization called Palette and Chisel for only two class. Both of these classes were called "Figure Drawing with Elements of Portrait" and help myself learn fundamental art skills that improve my own work. The class demonstrating important criteria such as proportions to scale, different styles/correcting shading, and following bone structure. However, there was also a level a personal growth within these classes.

GCE is a school that I am attending to the present day. It focuses on two main ideas. These being how to teach/learn certain information without processing it by absorbing data and how to use said information to improve your community. What I learned to these lessons was my own perfectionism, or how that trait had failed me during this class. I would have to accept the flaws with my drawings rather then try to fix them (for they would never be perfect). Though this lesson isn't grand does bring weight upon me.

Both classes were between September 14th to December 18th, and continued on for Tuesdays between 6:30 to 9:30 at night. Both taught by Jim Hiajick, the total hours where 36 within the two courses.

JN "Made through help of Jim" no website, Jan 2, 2019

Marwen

Marwen has been considered an art organization that has been help young people throughout the years to express their creativity in new and exciting ways. This is what I had been doing for 2018. Within this year, I have been going to multiple art programs within Marwen in different periods with different subjects. What I had learned was introduction to the human figure, different technics within photoshop, and learning certain history within the arts. Though, the greatest lesson would be of introduction of arts, which fit well within the standards of my school.

GCE has been a school I have the pleasure to attend up until the present day. It focuses on two main ideas. The first being that one should not absorb information but rather process and conclusions to it, while the second being to help your community and contribute the best way you can. How these classes demonstrate this is through the introduction of arts, and the unlimited creativity used within them. The arts could also be used to unified under the same message .

JN "Work within Marwen" no website, Jan 1, 2019

There were multiple classes I had took within Marwen. A class called "Exploring Marwen" was from January 31st to April 11th on Wednesdays between 5pm to 7:30 and was taught by Andra Helton. This equaling to the total time of 25 hrs within the span of the class. 

Later on, I took a session between May 3rd to 24th happening on Thursdays from 5pm-7:30. The class called the "May Intersection Artist Studio" and was taught by multiple artist. This class equaling to a total of ten hours. 

The next two classes were on taught on July 9th to 20th and was through Monday through Friday.  "Figure Sketching for Comics" taught by Meredith Liench between 10am to 12:30, and  "Hand built Animation" was taught by Andra Helton between 1:30 to 4pm. These classes equaling 50hrs in total. 

Finally the last class was taught by Jesse Aniva between the months September 26 to December 5th and having the total hours of 25 hrs. The class was called "Impossible Dreams" and was between 5:00 to 7:30. 

When added up all the hours, we gain the answer of 110hrs spent at Marwen.