Digest powered by RSS Digest

Gabriel Villa, Nicole Marroquin, Eric Garcia and Salvador Jiménez spoke last month at the University of Illinois at Chicago event dubbed “La Tierra Prometidad,” which is Spanish for “The Promised Land.”

These four artists are all from Pilsen, a neighborhood on the Lower West Side of Chicago that is home to mostly Hispanics and many thriving artists who want to showcase their work outside of the typical art gallery. The four artists promote their own work and help teach self-promoting to artists all over Chicago.

Villa, who teaches art in the Pilsen neighborhood said, “Artists of color talk about not being represented, [it] feels like they are taking the stance of being victim.”

Villa agreed that artists of color are under-represented in mainstream places. But that didn’t stop him. In 2009, he painted a mural about the Chicago Police Department’s blue-light cameras on the side of a business. Villa wanted to show his idea of what the blue-light cameras actually do, and wanted to show the people of Chicago. Although Villa had permission from the private business to paint the mural, it was destroyed three weeks later under the orders of 11th Ward Ald. James Balcer.

But Villa’s story didn’t stop other artists. Garcia shows his art all over the city and said, “I’m trying to tell a story and influence people’s ideas with my art.”

Garcia uses art to educate and demonstrate the issues in culture. But he doesn’t just use galleries to show his artwork; he is also recognized in art throughout the city streets, where he focuses on making sure people remember his art and remember the message he is trying to convey.

Marroquin agreed. “[In the] public is the best way to show work,” said Marroquin. “You have to work in both traditional and non-traditional places.”

Marroquin works with teens across the United States and helps them create art for studio spaces as well as on the streets across the country. Marroquin helps guide teens to design art on the sides of buildings, in alleys and even as simple as on the sidewalk of a local street. She believes that you have to be able to show your work in both environments to be successful.

“As an artist, my goal is to show the artwork,” Jiménez said. “[I] promote artwork by having [the viewer] see the piece and have it strong enough to stay with them in their mind.”

Jiménez doesn’t necessarily use the streets as a way to get his artwork seen, but uses unconventional spaces like coffee shops, local stores, bars and gyms.

Rigoberto Robles, a 22-year-old full-time student at the University of Illinois at Chicago, was amazed at the information in the meeting. “It shows how art affects people,” said Robles.

The meeting even inspired Martha Ramirez, also 22-year-old full-time student at the University of Illinois at Chicago. “I received an e-mail about this meeting and it was informing,” Ramirez said, adding that she was interested in finding a way to self-promote her own artwork and will go to these artists for support.

Garcia ended the meeting by make sure everyone understood one thing: “[It] is a challenge to get art into the world and galleries,” but to never stop trying.

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Please upload your photos of election day activities and actions to our ChicagoTalks photo pool. We would love to have your videos, and you can call us at 312 436-1820 and tell your story via cellphone. Get involved, tell us what you think by commenting on our liveblog (online at 5:30 p,m. today.)

Related articles

• TrueStar Radio Special with Two Aldermanic Candidates, One Rapper (chicagotalks.org)
• Chicago Still the Most Segregated U.S. City (chicagoist.com)
• Election Fraud: What to look for … Where to report it … And other tips (chicagonow.com)
• Obama Chicago Rally: ‘I Need You To Keep On Believing’ (capitolhillblue.com)

If you want to check the national scene, jump onto the the NYTimes real-time interactive map and Chicagoan gone global, Nate Silver and his Five Thirty Eight blog. Nate is know for his polling and predictions.

Watch national coverage starting at 7 p.m. on Free Speech TV.

Related articles

• Midterm Elections 2010 (twitter.com)
• Boo: Nate Silver Gives Democrats 5 Reasons Why Tuesday Could Be Worse Than Their Worst Nightmares (businessinsider.com)
• Where to Watch Election Day 2010 Results Online (nytimes.com)

According to a recent survey, respondents said a hot cup of coffee or tea is more likely to put them in a better mood at work and make them more productive. And, only the Genuine Thermos Brand can provide insulated mugs that keep drinks hot and fresh for up to 6 hours. Not only will your co-worker appreciate the gesture of being nominated but they can enjoy hot coffee all day.

Thermos Brand is offering this opportunity to three people in the Chicagoland area during the week of Nov. 15. Visit the Thermos Facebook page and tell them why your co-worker deserves a Thermos Brand coffee break by commenting on any of their nomination posts, or on their wall.

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

The college, no stranger to pushing the envelope, introduces their freshmen with a “Hell yeah” pledge every year. There’s never a shortage of loud music, student showcases, or someone creating change. Free condoms, monthly STD tests, and a large gay student population are all factors that may make some parents cringe. But regardless of all that, the very professional Guzman is more than happy to be working at a school like Columbia.

“I enjoy the way Columbia encourages students to search deep down to find out who they really are,” he said. “I respect that there’s no judgment here. You are who you are.”

His job at the college keeps him in contact with some of the most involved students on campus. As director of student engagement, he oversees organizations like the Student Government Association, Student Programming Board, and multiple others. Most likely, he meshes so well with these students because of his personal college experience. At his alma mater, University of Illinois at Chicago, Guzman said he was involved all across the board — he performed in the on-campus circus, he was in the SGA, Latin club, and countless other activities.

Contrary to his history with clubs, his overall college experience was the opposite of Columbia.

“It was very different. The interests and majors at this school are so widespread, and we express creativity in everything we do,” Guzman said. “There’s such a colorful blanket of diversity over the entire campus. Unlike other colleges, we have different backgrounds and I don’t just mean race. We have cultures and subcultures here that other schools don’t.”

Guzman’s experiences and outlook on life set him apart from the other faculty and staff at Columbia. Though he’s a modest person by nature, Guzman isn’t afraid to recognize his strengths.

“I’m very proud that as both a student and a professional, I’ve been able to carry myself with integrity. People give in or take the easy way out, but I don’t,” he said.  He takes his position very seriously, and wants to present himself in a way he’d like to see his students emulate later in life.

“In a position of influence, be it in a student organization or a manager, you can use that influence in either a negative or positive way. Use it wisely, because once you go back on your values, that’s it.”

The students that encounter him don’t take his values for granted. Andy King, a senior at Columbia and new senator in the SGA, was just recently introduced to Aldo and already speaks highly of him.

“[Aldo] helped introduce me to the way things work around here. He’s a really relatable individual, but at the same time he’s got so much to share, which sets him apart,” King said.

John Trierweiler, president of the SGA, has known Guzman for the duration of his time on the Senate. “Aldo has a very eccentric and enthusiastic personality that really helps and directs the SGA. We’ve been pleased to have him as our adviser for the last three years and look forward to working with him for many years to come,” he said.

When asked what his favorite thing is about the young people he works with is, he had a lengthy list of great qualities, but it centered on their personal drive and individuality.

“I respect that the students here don’t fit a mold. Many students probably faced challenges and judgment before they got here but they overcame that to get where they want to be,” he said. He thinks that in comparison to other schools, Columbia lacked those “pre-packaged answers like ‘lawyer’ or ‘doctor’” when discussing what students want to do when they grow up.

“Kids here throw that to the wind and say, ‘No, I want to be a dancer. An artist.’ I really respect that.”

At the end of the day, Guzman lives by the best advice he has ever been given: “It goes back to integrity. Once you find your morals and values, don’t break that. When we die, the people and memories we leave behind are largely influenced by how we carried ourselves.”

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

• We Come In Peace

  the extinction blues has added a photo to the pool:

  

  Ray Noland and Hebru Brantley
  Wicker Park, Chicago, IL

  

• The Belgravia Arms

  the extinction blues has added a photo to the pool:

  

  

• no swimming/chicago water system

  the extinction blues has added a photo to the pool:

  

  

• Lake Michigan

  the extinction blues has added a photo to the pool:

  

  9.26.2010

  

• (Untitled)

  the extinction blues has added a photo to the pool:

  

  expired disposable camera

  

• (Untitled)

  the extinction blues has added a photo to the pool:

  

  expired disposable camera

  

• Nature Boardwalk at the Lincoln Park Zoo

  the extinction blues has added a photo to the pool:

  

  Chicago, IL
  9/28/2010

  

• Neko Case, The New Pornographers

  the extinction blues has added a photo to the pool:

  

  Lollapalooza 2010

  

• number56-_1948flt

  beartnow has added a photo to the pool:

  

  Photo by Nancy Bechtol, 2010
  Showing at ARC Gallery, opens Oct 1, Friday. Chicago:Urban/Convergence. A collaboration with David Bechtol.in a photo essay on” Bensenville: reclaimed”
  Selected from photography of 2009 and 2010 taken in Bensenville–area taken over for the O’Hare Expansion

  

• number6-_0423_nb

  beartnow has added a photo to the pool:

  

  Photo by Nancy Bechtol, 2010
  Showing at ARC Gallery, opens Oct 1, Friday. Chicago:Urban/Convergence. A collaboration with David Bechtol.in a photo essay on” Bensenville: reclaimed”
  Selected from photography of 2009 and 2010 taken in Bensenville–area taken over for the O’Hare Expansion

  

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Digest powered by RSS Digest

As we slide into fall, we show you what summer brought to iSights on ChicagoTalks. Thanks to all who contributed. After you’ve browsed the photos, vote for your favorite photographer among our group:

Vote for your favorite photographer:

Digest powered by RSS Digest

Grrls Game Summit in August

The 3G Summit
“On August 12-15, 2010, the Department of Interactive Arts & Media and the Ellen Stone Belic Institute for the Study of Women & Gender in the Arts & Media, at Columbia College Chicago, will join in presenting the 3G Summit: The Future of Girls, Gaming and Gender. This is a visionary 4-day initiative that will convene 50 urban teenage girls with five leading women game designers and scholars for intensive dialogue, inquiry, game-play, and mentorship. Through multi-faceted workshops and a public forum, this initiative will critically confront gender representation and participation in our society’s fastest growing cultural medium.”

With the announcement by the once on-the-ticket, then off-the-ticket Scott Lee Cohen, our guest editorial focuses on independent candidates and their impact on the coming election cycle. It is written by Greg Tejada and CHICAGO ARGUS.

Tejeda is a Chicago-area freelance writer who has reported on various political and legal beats. He is a South-Sider who has written Hispanic issues columns for United Press International, covered the statehouse scene in Springfield, Ill., and more. Here is Tejeda’s take on Scott Lee Cohen’s announcement and the state of independent candidates in Cook County today.

“I can think of one person who will be absolutely disgusted at the notion of Scott Lee Cohen trying to revamp his political reputation by running a candidacy for electoral office independent of the political parties.That person would be Forrest Claypool – who himself is running an independent campaign for electoral office come the Nov. 2 elections. …”

Continue reading: Are we Cook Co. voters in for the ‘Battle of the Independents’ this election cycle?.

Related articles by Zemanta

Scott Lee Cohen Going For Gov? (chicagoist.com)

Scott Lee Cohen To Run As Independent For Governor? (huffingtonpost.com)

What’s Up With Scott Lee Cohen? (chicagoist.com)

You can figure out which candidates have views that match your own — even among that daunting list of judges running for election. There are no perfect choices, but voting based on facts is betterthan voting blind or not voting at all.

Here is ChicagoTalks’ guide to the primary election on Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2010 in Chicago and Cook County. You can vote (if you haven’t done early voting) on Feb. 2 between 6 a.m. -  7 p.m., if you are registered voter.

If you have problems or see something that looks fishy, tell the election judge at your polling place and report it to your election authority for Chicago or Cook County. Then call ChicagoTalks. Here’s how:

• City of Chicago voters should call the Election Hotline at (312) 269-7870.

• County voters should call the Vote Fraud Hotline (Cook County, but not City of Chicago) at (312) 603-0909.

• Call ChicagoTalks at (312) 436-1820. We are working with reporters from Lake Effect News, Center Square Ledger and The Columbia Chronicle to report problems and voting irregularities.

Voting for judges doesn’t have to be hard or take long. First, go to http://voteforjudges.org/, a nonprofit site that explains the details of these elections and provides guides to help you gauge who is qualified and who is not. Print these guides and take them with you when you vote. Whether you are interested in justice and gender, justice and race, or justice and fairness, these guides are better than voting blind or not voting at all. Find more judicial recommendations you can use here.

• If you are voting in one of the 120-plus towns and villages in suburban Cook County, your election authority is the Cook County Clerk’s office. Here are resources for you:

• Find your polling place
• See a sample ballot
  
• What if I’m not listed as being registered?
• What options do voters with disabilities have?
• What will happen at the polling place?
• What kind of voting equipment will I use?
• How do I vote?
• What if I make a mistake?
• What if I need help on Election Day?

• If you are voting in the city of Chicago, your election information is at www.chicagoelections.com.
  • Chicago voter F.A.Q.
  • Check your registration and see a sample ballot

• The e-voter site is a non-partisan voting information site.

• From Lake Effect, former Ald. Dick Simpson on The Cook County Wars provides a quick review of how Cook County commissioners voted since the last election.

• Ben Joravsky and Mick Dumke tell all in Election Follies : Age-old feuds, nepotism, logrolling, and Moonies—it must be primary season in Chicago.

Remember, this is a PRIMARY election, so most candidates are running to be the official party candidate in the November election. If you don’t feel comfortable asking for a Democratic, Republican or Green Party ballot, you have the right to request a non-partisan one.