A Walk Through Pilsen

As I geared up to go on my first intentional neighborhood exploration, I charged up my camera battery and thought of what questions I would be asking as I was walking through the community. While I would be looking for murals and what the murals say about the community, I also wanted to be observant of the neighborhood I was in and how different aspects of the neighborhood might be informing what murals I find.

Pilsen is the neighborhood I have been living in for the semester, so I had the chance to explore it quite a bit before I did my Pilsen neighborhood exploration for this project. What I’ve learned so far is that Pilsen has always been an immigrant neighborhood. First inhabited by Irish and German immigrants in the late 19th century and then followed by an influx of Bohemian people, which is when the neighborhood was given its name, Pilsen, which is the fourth largest city in the Czech Republic. After World War I, the University of Chicago Illinois was expanding and renovating and laws were past that forbid Mexicans from living in the area. As a result, Mexicans migrated to the Pilsen area and by the 1960s Pilsen was a predominantly Mexican-American neighborhood.

Nowadays, you see mostly Mexican-American people living here, but recently the neighborhood has been undergoing gentrification, meaning that the price of rent for businesses and housing is going up, making it impossible for people of lower socioeconomic status to be able to afford to stay. These people must move to more affordable neighborhoods, while the people who can afford the price of rent are free to move in.

This mural by Joseph "Sentrock"symbolizes how gentrification is especially detrimental to young people, who are less likely than adults to be able to secure an income in order to pay for housing. This mural is an example of professional artists working with youth art programs. In this case Sentrock teamed up with Yollocalli, a youth initiative of the National Museum of Mexican Art that offers free art and culture programming to young people.

16th and Wood.

The picture below is an example of a mural that could definitely use some restoration. The downside to murals is that unlike other art that is kept in galleries, murals are exposed to the elements on a daily basis, meaning that they have a higher risk of fading more quickly. Without proper restoration, murals like this one could fade away completely. Nevertheless, this mural is also an example of pieces that have religious themes, specifically Catholicism, as depicted by the Virgin Mary figure on the right. The focal point of this mural is an eagle standing on a cactus eating a snake, which is a symbol for Mexico.

Here is another example of murals having religious themes.

Here we have another depiction of the eagle on the cactus eating a snake as a symbol of Mexico. This mural pictures Emiliano Zapata and Francisco "Pancho" Villa, who were two iconic leaders of the Mexican Revolution. This is an example of how murals can memorialize important figures in history, as a way to honor their impact on history.

Damen Pink Line CTA stop. Artist unkown.

La Catrina Cafe on 18th Street.

This is Sam Kirk's newest mural (as of November, 2016)! Painted on the outside of an art gallery called Pilsen Outpost as a part of her exhibit called "Mujeres Poderosas", or "Powerful Women" in English.

Damen and 19th.

The school pictured below has mosaics all across the front, depicting major scenes of Mexican culture and history, incorporating Aztec heritage as well. Mosaics are a more permanent mural form rather than paint, protecting the piece from erosion or fading, and ensuring it will last longer.

Orozco Community Academy on 18th Street across from Harrison Park.

The wall pictured below consists of two different murals. The one on the right is of famous Mexican singer Joan Sebastian, created by artist Terence Faircloth. The one on the left was created in 2006 by artist Alejandro Medina and it features multiple famous Latinas. I include closer pictures of this mural below.

This part of the mural is of women in traditional Mexican folkloric outfits performing a traditional style Mexican dance. The women are dancing in a plaza called Zócalo, which is the name of the main plaza in Mexico City.

Here we see important Latina women such as famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo and Dolores Huerta, who is an American labor leader and civil rights activist who helped found the United Farm Workers.

18th and Wood.

This is a mural dedicated to Jeff Meldonado Jr., a young hip-hop artist who was shot a day after his 19th birthday due to an incidence of gang violence. His parents have since formed the J-Def Peace Project, a nonprofit organization, in the hopes of continuing their son's legacy.

18th and Paulina.

18th and Blue Island.

This mural was created by Aurelio Diaz in the early 1970s and depicts a Mexican man of indigenous decent going through a range of emotions. This piece is on the right side of the viaduct on 16th and Blue Island. This is the mural Sam Kirk was asked to restore in addition to creating a women's version on the other side of the viaduct, which resulted in her Weaving Cultures mural.

There are so many more murals in Pilsen that were not photographed by me and are not featured here, but this certainly gives a little taste of what is out there in the community. What I see when I look at these murals is a community that is proud of their heritage and wants it to be remembered and honored. This community knows where they come from. They know who their ancestors are and what they endured, and there is a sense of pride in this heritage. The murals that I saw mostly had a message behind them. For instance, the Declaration of Immigration mural had a clear message that "no human being is illegal", a statement that opposes those who want to deport "illegal" immigrants and fear that immigrants are taking away "American" jobs. This mural goes beyond mere aesthetic fear and also asserts a socio-political stance.

Even after living in Pilsen for three months I still see new murals every time I go outside, and I am really not exaggerating here. Murals provide a way for people in this community to memorialize the past and open conversations about the future. With so many murals across the neighborhood, this is definitely a community of people who have a lot to say. The stories that are told in these murals are not necessarily for the wealthy and privileged, but for all. They remind community members of their ancestry and educate outsiders of this community's identity.

Sources:

http://www.chicagonow.com/chicago-advocate/2014/08/chicagos-historic-pilsen-neighborhood-enters-a-new-era/

http://chicago.curbed.com/maps/a-guide-to-44-neighborhood-murals-you-must-see-right-now

https://madaboutthemural.wordpress.com/2010/07/06/all-about-the-women/

http://chicago.curbed.com/maps/a-guide-to-44-neighborhood-murals-you-must-see-right-now