Opening Reception: Friday, April 28, 2006 from 6pm-10pm
April 28 - May 20, 2006

"ENTORNO: GRASS GROWS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE" explores an united response to "environment" by re-examining Chicago’s architectural and physical spaces, public policies, political referendums and urban culture, moreover it tackles the dynamics of Chicago’s race and class structures. Artists, community activists and scholars will use different formats: installation, sculpture, video, photography, mixed media and painting. From comical satires to specific cultural examinations, the artistic responses have agency expressing the opinion and voice of exhibiting artists. This exhibition is coordinated by Polvo's founders: Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa, Miguel Cortez and Jesus Macarena-Avila.

Participants:
D. Denenge Akpem
AREA Chicago
Amy Castaneda
Citizenship and Voter Training School (CIVITAS)
Miguel Cortez
Anida Yoeu Esguerra
Little Village Environmental Justice Organization
Jesus Macarena-Avila
Naomi Martinez
Mess Hall
PERRO (Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization)
PilsenAyuda
Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa
Bernard Williams

POLVO
1458 W. 18th St 1R
Chicago, IL 60608
773.344.1940
www.polvo.org

SEE IMAGES FROM THE OPENING HERE

This show reviewed in ArtUS Magazine: download PDF, see blog file

Sites of Relevance; Notes for a Peoples Atlas
AREA Chicago Art/Education/Activism

Featuring Maps by Planary, UTR Development Corporation, Peter Zelchenko & Students from Big Picture High School (DiDi Grimms art class) Keewan Pierce, Maijah Adams, Jalicia Ussery Shaw, Carmel Gaytan with Chicone Smith, Andrea Wellington & Anesha Williams

AREA Chicago is a biannual (print and web) publication focusing on the intersections of Chicago Art, Education & Activism utilizing research and networking methodologies. Themes dealt with so far include: privatization, cultural space infrastructure, neighborhood change, food systems, and temporary monuments. Please get in touch to contribute to our upcoming issue focusing on local histories and practices of Solidarity. see areachicago.com

Sites of Relevance v.1

For Polvo a selection of map submissions to the ongoing AREA Chicago local mapping initiative Sites of Relevance that pertain most clearly to the theme of the exhibition are available for viewing. This is an ongoing project which will manifest as small exhibition, workshops s and presentations over time - eventually resulting in a kind of peoples atlas of the city to be published in the distant future. See areachicago.com for updates.

Thanks to the mapmakers, Deanna Isaacs, participants in the recent Counter Cartography Brunch at Mess Hall and the Food Mapping Workshop at Reclaim the Commons.

Citizenship and Voter Training School
Modeled after Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Highlander Center

What is CIVITAS?

CAAELII is a city-wide coalition of immigrant community-based organizations. By themselves, most our organizations are primarily direct service providers. Through CAAELII, many of these organizations also create community empowerment through organizing.

CIVITAS is the central training center and analysis wing of CAAELII. CIVITAS is a social justice school that is rooted in organizing. It is also the hub of the CAAELII network, fostering community dialogue and community connections.

We believe that people directly affected by issues are in the best position to assume leadership, take collective action, and win change in their lives.

We believe that these potential leaders from the base need to by identified and developed for social justice in an intentional manner.

CIVITAS develops immigrant leaders through action and education. Those leaders can then take action to win change and build an immigrant rights movement.

Barrio Beautification
Installation using wood, plastic rope, yarn, cloth, ceramic figure and potted plants
Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa, 2006

This work is a critique of the UGLY street dividers that have been placed in many areas of the city. If the goal is improving the look of the streets then they should have started with an eye-pleasing design.

The placement of these planters has also served to emphasize the division of neighborhoods in a city that is historically segregated.

What vision of 'Metropolis' is being followed and for whom?

TOXICKIDS
Spray paint and acrylic on canvas
Naomi Martinez, 2006

Across the country low-income, mostly African American and Latino families are living in communities affected by chemical pollutants. Power plants, incinerators, landfills, toxic spills, pesticides, poor housing conditions, freeways, and hazardous waste sites are polluting the air, water and soil around them. Lead poisoning, respiratory problems and the risk of birth defects in their unborn babies are just some of the effects of such conditions. This environmental racism is also known worldwide. For example, in South Africa where computer parts that Western and European countries no longer need are being dumped. These parts leak lead and other chemicals into the people's soil and make it useless for planting, playing, building, life. Many people of color lack the political influences and monetary resources that predominantly White upper-class communities hold to drive such facilities away from their back yards. These companies also need to be exposed and held responsible for their dirty little secrets. This piece is my response to the environmental racism injustice. Healthy air, water, green life and a calm environment is necessary for ALL babies and children to learn and grow peacefully.

Naomi Martinez, born in 1977, is an all-natural Chicago-grown artist who enjoys painting, graffiti art, comix, toys, anime and most recently Southern Flying Squirrels.

2006 City of Chicago Displacement Map
Digital print
Miguel Cortez, 2006

Chicago has been going through many transformations the past 30 years. It is going through a reversal of the past american dream(white middle class) to live in the suburbs with your white picket fence and 2.5 kids while the people of color and lower class stayed within their boundaries in the inner-city. What has been happening now is that the people of color and lower class have been slowly displaced away from anywhere that is close to the lake. They are being pushed outwards and south. They are promised better housing in return for the land, but what are they really getting?...

There is a surveillance camera on the corner of Morse Avenue and Glenwood Avenue, just steps away from Mess Hall. The Mess Hall keyholders wanted to initiate public dialogue around the placement of the camera in our neighborhood.

The large print shown here hung in our storefront's window, along with a note leading visitors and passersby to a supply of blank response sheets and pens. We asked anyone who wished to participate to write a response to the question posed on the print. These are a few of the many responses we received. The camera remains, and the dialogue continues all over Chicago as cameras continue to arrive unannounced.

Mess Hall is an experimental cultural center in the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago. We host film screenings, music events, art exhibitions, community meetings, potlucks, and more. Mess Hall has a library of small press and artist books and periodicals for visitors to enjoy, a small kitchen space, and bins filled with free items for our visitors to take home. All events and projects hosted at Mess Hall are free to attend.

Mess Hall is coordinated by a group of keyholders, including Brett Bloom, Ava Bromberg, Salem Collo-Julin, Marianne Fairbanks, Marc Fischer, Erik Newman, Jane Palmer, Dan S. Wang, and Mike Wolf.

Find us at 6932 N Glenwood, Chicago, www.messhall.org, messhall8@yahoo.com, or (773) 465-4033.

"THROWN SHOES: EXTINCTION OF A GHETTO ARTIST"
Installation work: cassette radio player, concrete, dirt, glass, plants, shoes, string and telephone wireJesus Macarena-Avila, 2006

"Much community organizing and cultural activity is a grassroots effort that requires a great deal of person-to-person communication and negotiation. An effective leader in this field must be able to work with multiple personality types, cultures, and agendas in order to have an impact in a community." - Lee Ann Normal1

Community art practices has been a facet of Chicago's history and its environment, from 1960's, even before during the Works Progress Act (WPA) era with its public art programming. The action or interaction of grouping of people or a community whom engages in the arts can become a great instrument for social change. I myself as a practicing artist had seen the importance of sharing my artistic practice in a communal avenue for others to see their inner creativity and in return I am partaking in an act of civil responsibility. Like all art forms, visual art is an ageless form of "communication" to covey messages and ideas to serve a community for self-identification.

For communities of color, community art practices as always been utilized as way to join the people together. Striving or a possible way of social change and to gain self-awareness, artists used these tactics within the artistic practice. Artists felt the need to invest in their public not for some "career choice" or "academic validation", even today many of these artists and communities have not been properly been recognized and archived. Although, there are many perspectives for artists in viewing this historic cultural exchange, some may follow for theoretical solutions and others perform in rhythm with what their community needs.

Either way, in our present day, there has been a "shift" in the way that Chicago faces the practice of community art. I am concerned with how the "new" and "old" fields (as referred by some arts administrators) are interacting in Chicago's artistic communities. When it said as an "old" field it is referring to the community based artists who have been always been working with Chicago's communities starting in the late 1960's. Most of them went unnoticed from the mainstream art world. And when they were recognized it was not as an "equal artist" but as a "second rate artist", a "community artist".

In creating this piece, I want to respond in how the "old" and "new" community art practice is being viewed and practiced. I come from a grouping of mentors having origins from what is considered the "old" field and whose influences on my work still continue. I began my practice as arts educator in the Pilsen and Little Village communities; during these beginnings "community art" was considered a dirty word in art schools and departments. My undergraduate days at art school were not always a positive one. I remember that students and even some instructors would ridicule me when I said what did. I also was considered a "ghetto artist" or even as though that my involvement was not important in compared to whatever "contemporary" art trends were being practiced.

In the mid 1990's, I started to see a peak of interest from the funding circles of Chicago's art world, when I say this I was a very small grouping of people. During these times, there were arts professional laying out the baby steps of the "new field". Using concepts borrowed from the "Cultural Wars" and the WPA era like "cultural advocate" or "community artist", I had been "discovered" as this important "asset" hence labeling me as a "cultural worker". I am big believer involving education into community art practices, I feel that "conceptual" artistic practices are not always well-received in community without proper education and awareness. I mean if the art world may get it, great but then what is the point if the "community" is not getting it. Does mean it is still good work? Is it really for the betterment for its served community? We should really glorify the "artist" when the "people" being served is not getting it? Since I do not believe in just going into any community and imposed one's artistic vision, we have alot of things to consider: do you know who is "community"? Who are the "elders" or what their concerns? Do you know its history? Does the "community" even want the artist there?

Stating this, my installation work calls for people to recognize the "foundation" before we will "extinct" it. If we are to go forward in the area of community art practices in Chicago, we must look and invest in those pioneers and those who carry their teachings. Otherwise these practices will be mainstreamed like anything else that communities of color have invented or invested in the United States. Not remembering those who were (and are still) in the beginning and who had invested so time and their money into what they felt was important can be a danger to all in these "old" and "new" fields. Like in mainstream "American" cultures where everyone "invent" their origins as it grows from one "lie" to another. In this piece I used the "shoefiti" idea as a metaphor for a "urban legend" as a way that the "old" field has been overlooked or sometimes forgotten in the "new" field dialogue.2

Nowadays in Chicago's artworld, I have noticed a lot of individuals saying that they are "community artist" without any foundation or real "base". Some using highly conceptual languages placing it in communities as though it is a new fashion trend. What then of "social responsibility"? Or what about "indigenous leadership"? At a national level of arts administrators, scholars and practitioners, I witnessing a beginning of the "institutionalization" process of community art practice. For some, it can be a blessing, the "written" and "published" word gives recognition to those that have not recognized or paid "respect". Yes, we need to start writing about this for new changes in our public policies and to redesign our bad education system.

As I have said before, in all, this is definitely a "new" field. This is where my concerns lie: are we entering into some theoretical trapping? Can theory really still keep in what community art practices were based on? Can there be a common ground for "new" field theory to refer to the foundation of an "old" field? For example, Chicago "old" field came out straight from the Civil Rights Movement era, grass roots initiatives, which resulted, functioned and grew from out of a non-institution practice.

ENDNOTES:
1. Norman, Lee Ann. "Leadership and Cultural Community: Where We Go From Here". AEMM Department, Columbia College Chicago: Chicago, December 2005.
2. "Shoefiti" is the act of throwing shoes over telephone or electrical wires. Its origins are world phenomena, an urban myth. Some think it detects a drug community or it gives homage to people who passed away, other think it means nothing while for some it means to get discard old tired shoes. There is common definition, that "shoefiti" can be seen as an act of "remembering" or "memory". A special thank you to Mr. Gabriel Vega for sharing his stories of "shoefiti" and input on this installation.

Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (P.E.R.R.O.)

P.E.R.R.O. is a group of Pilsen residents that formed in 2004 to fight the disproportionate amount of pollution in the Pilsen neighborhood. Its mission is to increase awareness about environmental justice and the effects of pollution and forge a dialogue among residents, businesses, industry and social and religious organizations in order to create a healthier community and living environment for all. Largely because of its efforts, in April 2006 the H. Kramer foundry at 1345 W. 21st St. will be upgrading its pollution filters by early 2007.

La Organización sobre Derechos y Reformas Ambientales de Pilsen (P.E.R.R.O.)

P.E.R.R.O. es un grupo de residentes de Pilsen que se formó en 2004 para luchar contra la cantidad desproporcionada de contaminación en la vecindad de Pilsen. Su misión es aumentar el conocimiento sobre justicia ambiental y los efectos de la contaminación y forjar un mejor diálogo entre residentes, negocios, industria y organizaciones sociales y religiosas para crear un una comunidad y ambiente mas sano para todos. En gran parte debido a estas iniciativas, durante 2006 la fundición de H. Kramer en 1345 W. 21st St. aumentará sus filtros contra la contaminación que funcionarán ya a principios de 2007.

About the project:
The objective of this project is the development of web-based maps diagramming relationships between individuals and institutions. Two principal elements are reflected in the site: Mexican immigrants to Chicago and non-profit organizations that serve them. The institutions and individuals mapped represent the south side neighborhoods of Pilsen and Little Village. Their relationship reflects the supply and demand for services such as education, health care, employment, legal services and housing. Maps allow the user to navigate interactions between
individuals and the referrals that connect them to services, as well as relationships between institutions. The website functions as a virtual phone book, with pdf downloads. Each organization's profile and individual network will include an introductory video. Pilsen Ayuda will be also available for public in a DVD with an interview and information of each organization.

ENTORNO: GRASS GROWS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE

"Urban planners and city leaders have likewise spent enormous resources and efforts identifying things their cities lack as they try to copy what has seemed to work for others. Thus, the fixation on sports arena, convention centers, Wal-Marts and aquariums – even major performing arts centers or museums. These big-box "solutions" rarely "fix" anything, nor do they bring widespread prosperity or better public services to their citizens."1

“ENTORNO: GRASS GROWS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE” is an exhibition of Chicago based visual artists, community activists and scholars focused on the idea of “environment” or “entorno” in Spanish, using Chicago's landscape and its resident communities as the central theme. The city of Chicago has been going through rapid urban renewal fostered by huge promises to change the city for the betterment of its residents. In reality the persistent issues of displacement, economic class segregation, racism and ageism have come into sharper focus as a result of these renewed initiatives. This exhibition examines how visual artists, community activists and scholars look into their own communities and through their expressions to pursue a language to critique the city government’s reactions to these critical concerns.

Moreover, it is an artistic response to “environmental racism” re-examining Chicago’s architectural and physical spaces, public policies, political referendums and urban culture. These responses that tackle the dynamics of Chicago’s race and class structures. From comical satires to specific cultural examinations, their responses have agency expressing the opinion and voice of exhibiting artists: D. Denenge Akpem, Amy Castaneda, Miguel Cortez, Anida Yoeu Esguerra, Jesus Macarena-Avila, Naomi Martinez, Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa and Bernard Williams. Each artist examines particular aspect of Chicago’s city policies, “green” technology, education system and recent surveillance tactics; moreover, it fuses installation, sculpture, video, photography, mixed media and painting.

Other exhibitors such as AREA Chicago, Citizenship and Voter Training School (CIVITAS), Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization (PERRO) and Temporary Services at Mess Hall represent artist collectives, community organizations and scholars who work in a collaborative manner. The idea of collaborating with other groups can be empowering and can go beyond the artistic experience. Collaborative projects can involve other groups within the same community, such as the local church, grocery store or educational organization. Another aspect of collaboration involves the idea of ownership. When an artist works with other groups -- who is the owner? Is it the artist or the community?

Neill Bogan discusses the notion of ownership in his critical writings. He explains: “When a real community impetus does locate resources, or a low-resource solution, the results can be moving, living art. And the complex community-artist role, almost always crossing multiple insider/outsider boundaries no matter what the geographic relation of the artist to the project (in other words, even if the artist is “from here”), does in fact give movement and life to the process. The differences, gaps and distances are part of life and the impetus for all communication; so projects that make room for them to have a head start. “

“ENTORNO: GRASS GROWS GREENER ON THE OTHER SIDE” sparks a needed dialogue amongst city residents using creativity to express different views and opinions on what lies for the future of Chicago’s residents. – Exhibition coordinators Miguel Cortez, Elvia Rodriguez-Ochoa and Jesus Macarena-Avila

ENDNOTES:
1. Scholar Tom Borrup defines the term "cultural imperialism" and " cultural worker" belonging to community based artistic communities in his essay entitled "What’s Revolutionary About Valuing Assets as a Strategy in Cultural Work".
2. Neill Bogan from Georgia lives outside New York City. Since 1983, he has dealt with issues of place, power and memory in his performance, visual art projects and interdisciplinary public art venues. He wrote an article "Power and Mastery: Negotiations in Community-based Visual Art".