20 Neighborhoods Comes to a Close… for a moment.

Possibilities for Phase 2, and Reflection on the Final Exhibition

Closing event

On November 1^st, 20 Neighborhoods community members, including Teaching Artists, participating Artists, and Partner Organization representatives, gathered at Woman Made Gallery to say goodbye to the 20 Neighborhoods Exhibition. This final meeting marked the end of the project’s first phase, which included the curriculum design sessions and teacher trainings in the Spring, the Summer art-making workshops that took place across the city, the citywide gatherings at Woman Made Gallery, and the exhibition.

We used the time together to reflect on the project thus far and discuss the development of a “Phase 2”, to take place in 2013. At the end of the evening we dismantled the collaborative fiber installation in the gallery’s atrium, cutting fabric pieces and untying braids as mementos to take home.

What’s Next?

With over 25 people present, the anecdotes and prescriptions based on the past experience of the project, as well as dreams for what will come next, were many and varied. In looking back, a number of people expressed that the “professional” setting of Woman Made Gallery elevated and validated their experience of art making and presentation, as well as community building.

In terms of art-making, there seemed to be a general consensus that if we are going to pursue another project that involves art workshops, then we need to build in more studio time for both skill-learning and art-creation, as well as pursue more better funding for more abundant materials.

As we talked about the concrete ways in which community building took place, both in the individual workshop groups and in the gallery as a whole, it became clear that many are interested in deepening those connections with other groups across the city. Taking the difficulties of geography and transportation into consideration, many ideas for a Phase 2 focused on leveraging the new connections and networks created through the project in order to group two or more partner organizations that could create and/ or exhibit artwork together, both at Woman Made and other gallery spaces throughout the city, as well as perhaps outdoors.

Exhibition Event Series

This meeting was also the last event in a month-long series that accompanied the October exhibition. In summary:

Poetry Reading - On October 18^th we held a poetry reading, which included both a reading of original poetry by participating artist Victoria Rowels who worked with South Side Community Arts Center, as well as research and poetry from the poets Emily Dickinson and Audre Lorde by participating artist Sharon Stillwell from Mercy Housing South Loop Apartments. Stillwell’s exploration of Dickinson and Lorde, while fascinating on its own, also provided an interesting historical context for Rowels’s original poetry, which focuses on the history of African Americans in the U.S., and connects it to present-day violence and activism in Black communities.

Film Screening and Discussion: The Invisible War - On October we screened “The Invisible War”, a documentary on the epidemic of rape and sexual assault within the U.S. military. This was followed by a discussion with Sabrina Waller, member of Iraq Vets Against the War and participating artist with Living Art Center’s Women Vets Art Group. In conversation with Art Therapist and Teaching Artist Suellen Semekoski, Waller spoke about her own military history and subsequent anti-war activism and art making. She highlighted the importance of art therapy in treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and ended with a reflection on how veterans are very well-positioned to be peace activists, asking: “If veterans can define non-violence, what else can they do?”

 Artist Talk: Victoria Martinez - On October 20th, Victoria Martinez, Teaching Artist at Yollocalli in Pilsen, and designer of the collaborative fiber installation for the 20 Neighborhoods Exhibition, gave an artist talk in which she discussed her art practice and shared images of past and current work. She also talked about her work as an art teacher in various schools and organizations across the city. She reflected on her use of found fabric and fibers, particularly in the context of her site-specific work. She also contrasted the more horizontal and adult-centered environment that she had to navigate when she designed and directed the 20 Neighborhoods fiber installation, with the classroom settings she is used to as a teaching artist working with children and teens.

Panel Discussion: Creating Community Beyond Place - Finally, on October 27th, we hosted a panel discussion, moderated by Suellen Semekoski (Women Vets Art Group). Entitled “Creating Community Beyond Place”, the event featured 20 Neighborhoods Artists from Partner Organizations that focus on building community beyond geographic place. From Arts of Life we had Frances Roberts and Jean Wilson with Caitlin Law, their Arts Coordinator. From Center on Halsted we had Cassandra Herring, Louise Klie, Eva Skye, and Teaching Artist Veronica Stein. And from the Women Vets Art Group we had Emily Siefken and Sabrina Waller.

The main inquiry was: how does art-making help us connect through shared experiences and identities? Panelists shared ideas and stories about how art making has inspired both personal autonomy and interpersonal exchange. The discussion was quite candid, with panelists bringing up artistic and emotional breakthroughs and at times painful pieces of personal history. The most compelling moments included an exchange between Cassandra Herring, who is active duty military, and the two women veterans in the room who are both anti-war activists, as well as Eva Skye’s explanation of what geographic space means to her as a transgender person, particularly in terms of personal safety. We ended with a reflection on what it feels like to be truly in community with others.

And now…

In the spirit of that “community feeling”, we are looking forward to continuing the development of “20 Neighborhoods: Phase 2” with the now more-solidified community that formed through Phase 1. We are anticipating some beautiful and unexpected changes as a result of this shift in context.

After a little break, we are excited to move ahead in December, using the same collaborative and participatory design process of surveys and meetings that we used to create “Phase 1”. Keep an eye out for updates on the project’s evolution, and as always, feel free to get in touch with questions and ideas!

–Ruby Thorkelson, 20 Neighborhoods Project Director & Gallery Coordinator

For more information on the 20 Neighborhoods Project, check out:

• 20 Neighborhoods Documentary
• 20 Neighborhoods Exhibition Catalog
• 20 Neighborhoods Online Gallery

 

20 Neighborhoods with AG47

Teaching Assistant Elyse Schauer tells us about the workshops with AG47

August 12, 2012

AG47 had it’s first workshop at Create Counseling Center in Logan Square on Saturday, August 11th. Three women visual and performance artists who mentor pre-teen and teenage girls through AG47, came together with fellow AG47 mentor, Katherine Robinson, to make assemblage sculptures that reflect the 20 Neighborhoods project’s themes of self, home, community/neighborhood, and world. The Create Counseling Center art therapy clinic has generously donated their space for us to use throughout the project.

We began by asking the questions “What does community mean to you” and “What makes you safe to make art?” on paper on the walls, leaving free room for artists to respond. After a brief discussion on the points that came up, we did some performance exercises in the hallway, which helped everyone get acquainted and loosen up. Next there were brief demos on gel medium and packing tape transfers, to be used to create collages.

The last half of the time was an open studio hour, with the goal of each participant creating 5-6 “artist trading cards”- brief examples of our art that we could trade with each other. It was great to begin making work so quickly, with a quick project in mind, and not a lot of pressure. Our magazines, glue, and oil pastels provided plenty of inspiration. At the end of the class, we all went home with trading cards from our fellow artists- a great way to begin an art making journey together.

Next week we will bring objects related to the project’s first theme of Self, and begin planning our sculptures.

20 Neigborhoods at Enlace Chicago

Teaching Artist Olga Maria Marroquín tells us about the workshops at Enlace Chicago

August 26, 2012

Class 1: The first class got off to a great start, we had three ladies who were enthusiastic and willing to share their stories and experiences as they related to Woman Made Gallery’s theme. We talked about the concept of the workshops, the objective of having them and the impact we hoped to obtain by digging into ourselves and creating art based on our experiences and hopes. We broke down each word and talked about what it meant to us personally as well as what came to mind when pondered on it. I encouraged the women to also think about abstract images as they reflected on each word.

We then used the “where I’m from” exercise to get to know each other. One of the ladies said “this will help us get to know things about ourselves we didn’t even know!” I really liked that she said that because I personally feel like older Hispanic women are not encouraged enough to take time and contemplate what it is that really inspires us as well as what weighs us down. The three women all had a lot in common but most of all they all talked about growing up on a ranch in Mexico and the beauty as well as the difficulties of being a woman when you grow up on a ranch. At this point we did start to hit some emotional turf as one of the ladies described the unfairness, bias and macho mentality her grandfather (who owned the ranch) portrayed as she grew up there. The two other ladies came in and out of conversation sharing their similarities in the story. Although all this was personal to them, nothing was taken to a sour place. Everything was talked about in a conversation tone and we ended up losing track of time.

Class 2: Our second class wasn’t as productive as unfortunately just one of the women was able to make it. I spoke to Hector and asked if he could check in with the other two. Sadly we had to cancel class for the day since the other women were not able to attend.

Class 3: Focused on: “Self” We had one of the original participants come in (Yolanda) with her young daughter Crystal as well as a new lady (Teresa)… I had copies made of the words they came up with at the 1st session describing what “Self, Home, Community and City/World” meant to them. I gave Teresa and Crystal a little back-ground of what the projects concept is. They started to cut out pictures from magazines that reflected “Self” and likes, hopes, or interests. We then took turns to describe what each cut-out meant to us and why we chose it. Crystal was a little apprehensive at first to speak, but once we started the conversation circle, she felt comfortable enough to share. It was interesting to see both mother and daughter describe their likes and aspirations for a garden. They had both picked out images with grass and flowers on them. I then had the ladies select postcards from our art resources that most sparked their interests or reminded them of a child hood experience. My helper Laura picked out a cactus postcard and described her road trips to Mexico when she was younger. Teresa said she too could relate to that. We then took our magazine cut-outs and I showed them how to do the packing tape transfer technique. They thought it was very cool.

 Class 4: Focused on: “Home” Today I had participants bring in pictures from home. I showed them how to do the gel medium transfer and my helper Laura showed them how to make their magazine cut-outs into plastic like form also using the gel medium. I introduced them to some of the textiles from our resources and had them choose a couple to incorporate to their boxes that reflected elements in their home. Also, Angelica from class #1 made it in and we got her up to speed. I’m happy I finally remembered to take some photos.

2 Nights, 70 People, Countless Post-its, and Limitless Connections: The First City-Wide 20 Neighborhoods Artist Meetings at WMG

First 20 Neighborhoods Artist Meeting: Discussing how and where we connect with other people in our neighborhoods and communities

The first week of August marked the first two city-wide 20 Neighborhoods meetings at Woman Made Gallery, focused on bringing participating artists, teaching artists, and partner organizations together to meet one other, share experiences and aspirations, and contribute to the development of the upcoming exhibition. With about 45 people present for the first meeting, and the about 25 present for the second, both evenings were alive with vibrant with conversation, shared ideas, and at some points, strong emotions.

Two women discussing the symbolism of the feather, while the group in the mid-background discusses the hammer, and the group in the left-hand background discusses the plate, fork, and knife

In the spirit of found-object assemblage, attendees first gathered around stations containing various objects (a hammer, a feather, needle and thread, colored pencils, a plate, fork, and knife) to meet one another and discuss their shared and diverging interpretations of the objects’ symbolism.

At the station containing four pencils of ranging colors, two women remarked that they identified most with the blue pencil, which for them was reminiscent of the sky and also contained symbols of freedom, openness, and levity.

A number of women connected with each other over the needle and thread because it reminded them of their mothers with their thrift and ingenuity in fixing the family’s clothing and taking care of their homes. One woman shared that she recently came close to throwing out a purse because the lining was ripped up, but then she remembered her mother and decided to mend it, which brought her a sense of satisfaction: “I felt really good!”.

Two women introduce themselves as they discuss the symbolism of the feather

From there we switched from the exploration and discussion of objects to discussing questions about our neighborhoods and communities such as: “What would make you feel safer?”, “If you could travel anywhere in Chicago where would you go?”, “What do you like about the schools in your neighborhood, and what would you change?”, “If you could put your artwork from this project anywhere in your neighborhood for others to see, where would you put it?”. The conversations that emerged from these questions were rich with experiences and ideas that intertwined, connected, and diverged.

Writing and drawing ideas on post-its

After discussing these questions, we wrote and drew our ideas on post-it notes and put them on the wall under the discussion questions. Here is some of what emerged:

“There’s just enough happening but I don’t always feel like I’m part of it. I wish there were more community events in the streets”. “I would like to see more art in my neighborhood that is made by locals or by the school children”. “Art in trees! Art on tables! Art in windows!”. “I would like to feel safer in my neighborhood. If there was a regular walking patrol in the neighborhood (at least a bike patrol in the residential portion)”. “I like that the schools in Pilsen have art programs or are close in proximity to FREE arts programming. I would change outdated books and add sociology to the curriculum by law”. “I wish using PACE was easier so I can meet new people”. “I refuse to be afraid”.

One of the most interesting conversations to emerge from this activity was in response to the statement “I would like to quality education for the children of my neighborhood”, which sparked a lively debate on education and parenting. One woman from the workshops at Imagine Englewood If brought up that her son gets out of school suspension for 10 days just for talking back to a teacher. She expressed that this kind of disciplinary action is making it hard for her to parent and for him to learn since there is no mechanism for him to get caught up once he returns to school, and it is hard for her to keep an eye on him during the day when he is out of school for suspension.

Many in the room agreed and voiced concerns about how the system could be improved to make out of school suspension less frequent and to put mechanisms in place to help students catch up if they are suspended. Another woman, who is a teacher and is participating in the South Side Community Art Center workshops, offered her perspective about how hard it is to teach when students are disruptive, and that disciplinary action is the only tactic or power teachers feel they have, and parents need to do more at home to make sure their kids are better behaved.

Another woman from the Imagine Engelwood If group brought up the work that their organization does around lead abatement and mentioned that lead poisoning is linked to learning and behavioral problems, and that it is important to address this in any conversation about education and discipline in Chicago schools. While the discussion felt tense, it also felt like productive. There was somewhat general agreement that these issues are part of a systemic problem and that we need to keep talking and learning from one another.

Discussing what’s on the post-its

We ended both the meetings discussing the exhibition and all of its various components, with the hope that participating artists can be fully integrated in the exhibition process.

At the first meeting we began to discuss what kinds of panel discussions and artist talks could coincide with the exhibition. We are already looking forward to presentations from the workshop of women war veterans at Living Arts Center, as well as the artists at Center on Halsted, who are interested in a public exploration of their group’s diversity in age, ethnicity, gender, and sexuality.

At the second meeting we had a little time to talk about the layout of the exhibition and brought up some of the questions we will be dealing with more explicitly at the exhibition planning meetings. For an example, we posed the question: “Should the assemblages be grouped by neighborhood/ organization, or intermixed?”. Many people in the room voiced that they would prefer to see the assemblages grouped together with others from the same workshop group as a way to understand the city. Many brought up various ways that a geographic or spacial presentation of the city could be linked to the display of assemblages in the space. Ideas included:

-Designating the back of the gallery as North and the front as South, or the downstairs as South and the upstairs as North, and placing assemblages accordingly

-Using the image of the subway system to designate neighborhoods, either with colored electric tape on the floor, or colored tape, string, or wire on the ceiling

-Hanging signs (maybe that look like street signs) from the ceiling to show which neighborhood is which

Kristina Tendilla, the teaching artist from Benton House, in Bridgeport brought up the idea of creating some kind of activity book or scavenger hunt, either printed separately or as part of the catalog, that would allow visitors to connect the work of women in one neighborhood to the work of women in another by finding similarities and differences.

We are looking forward to focusing in on the exhibition at upcoming city-wide 20 Neighborhoods meetings on August 15^th and September 5^th. Stay tuned for updates!

To see more photos from the meetings, check out our facebook album and make sure to “like” 20 Neighborhoods on facebook if you haven’t already!

20 Neighborhoods: A Mid-project Update

What began as a conversation about building the Woman Made Gallery community and the challenge of the seeming exclusivity of the art world has manifested into a truly special project within the city of Chicago. In celebration of Women Made Gallery’s 20^th Anniversary, 20 Neighborhoods has taken on the unique task of working within 20 different and vibrant neighborhoods throughout Chicago, many of them lacking in access to arts programming. To make this a reality, Woman Made Gallery partnered with twenty Chicago community-based, arts-based, and housing organizations to create an art exhibition based on Chicago women’s individual and collective experiences and aspirations for their homes, families, neighborhoods, communities, and city.

With the help of teaching artists, teaching assistants, partner organizations, interns, and countless volunteers, 20 Neighborhoods has successfully introduced a diverse group of individuals to an array of artistic skills and abilities, as well as created space for new conversations on self, home, community, and city. Since June, Woman Made Gallery has hosted found-object assemblage sculpture workshops for participating women, and in some cases youth, at each organization’s location, which will culminate in an exhibition of all the participants’ art pieces, writing, additional project documentation, and a group-created site-specific installation at Woman Made Gallery in October of 2012. The exhibition will be one of 12 featured programs for Chicago Artists Month.

As many of the teaching artists have noted, participating artists have been extremely excited and eager to work with the various provided art materials bringing personal objects from home for incorporation. Not only have these women been creating found-object assemblages, they have also been introduced to very specific artistic techniques that many were not familiar with, such as gel medium transfers and paper making. Many artists have incorporated these newly learned techniques into their own work. Using the themes of “self”, “home”, and “community” as catalysts to develop their artwork thematically, the artists have also had opportunities to reflect on themselves, their families, and their visions for their neighborhoods and communities.

Teaching artist Kristina Tendilla shares the words of her workshop participants at Benton House in Bridgeport: ‘“It’s great because we get to make…us” said 12 year old Amaya. Her mother echoed this. Quite a few of the ladies expressed that they’re grateful to be able to designate time for creativity in their busy lives through this workshop. Even the women who admitted that they don’t consider themselves to be ‘artistic’ or ‘creative’ felt at ease creating works that represented them- one participant referred to the project as “creating a piece of myself”.’

The overarching goal of the 20 Neighborhoods Project has been to use the space and resources of Woman Made Gallery to build an artistic community among women and youth from different neighborhoods throughout Chicago, with a specific focus on self and community empowerment. By offering a safe space for participating artists to explore themselves and the community they live in, many involved in the project have developed new insights into how they would like to see themselves, their families, and their communities grow stronger and healthier.

As teaching artist Silvia Gonzalez shares of her work with women and girls at Albany Park’s Centro Autonomo: “[Week two’s theme of self-identity] also sparked conversation on the importance of self-care and self-awareness. Women worked through these ideas with energy and conviction, after reliving important memories and discussing hopes for themselves. It was clearly important to all of them that self-reflection was actually happening in a very safe space. That space allowed for connection making: many of the women, bonded as a result of the conversations, seeing that they had a lot in common, or discussing the impact of memories in constructing who they are now and what they want for themselves, their families, and their futures.”

As many of the workshops have come to an end and the project moves toward exhibition, the success of this endeavor is palpable and the interest in 20 Neighborhoods remains strong. Many partner organizations have expressed a desire to continue this sort of creative enterprise into the future. Participating artists have mentioned their excitement about sharing their newly learned techniques and skills with family and friends around them, as well as new ways of thinking about themselves, art, and community. Stay tuned for an update on last week’s first Artist Meetings at the gallery, which brought together women from all over the city to meet each other, discuss their ideas and visions for their neighborhoods and communities, and start the exhibition planning process.