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.
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.
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| 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.
