Chicago Center for Urban Life & Culture

Fall Semester Mural Research

Becky Stueve, Administrative & Special Projects Apprentice, shares her experience watching the academic students’ mural presentations:

“I was fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to sit in on the Fall 07 student mural presentations. Students group up and pick a Chicago mural to research as a method of learning field research in Chicago, before they pick their final individual topics. They study the mural and the neighborhood the mural is in.

Since I am a relatively new Apprentice to the Chicago Center, I was very excited to be able to hear what the students have been learning all semester and actually meet the students. Friday morning I walked to Scott Chesebro’s house, finding it only after knocking on the wrong door and a thousand apologies to the elderly gentleman who answered.

Seated and sipping my much-needed cup of coffee, I waited for the presentations to start. The students who were already there, and those arriving shortly after, were all of good spirits and ready for the promised breakfast and presentations to begin. Sadly, I was only able to stay for two presentations. But I thought all the students seemed well prepared and very focused. The groups I was able to learn from confirmed that thought.

Kevin and Ashley gave their presentation on a mural in Marquette Park. They called it Youth Liberation. Youth from the community did all of the work on the mural, and it was completed in less than 6 months. Some of the themes found in the mural were youth liberation, struggle against criminalization, jobs for youth, anti violence, age base discrimination, and immigration/racial profiling. One of the interesting facts about the neighborhood that this group helpfully pointed out was that it had the biggest baker in the world….that is enough to convince me to visit!

The second group consisted of Jen, Michelle and Meg. Their mural was located in Lawndale and was entitled I Dare To Dream. It was painted by Paul Thomas Monahan and featured African American heroes such as Michael Jordan, Ida Wells, and Martin Luther King, to name a few. The property is run by the library in that neighborhood and is fenced in the Storybook Garden. It also had pictures of The Wizard of Oz. The group talked about how because the mural is fenced in, it can hardly be seen from outside the garden. Sadly, this is due to vandalism in the neighborhood. Also, due to poor planning on the city of Chicago’s part, the mural will eventually be blocked in because of housing development.

As mentioned before, a scheduling conflict called me to leave the presentations early. From what I saw both during and in between the presentations, the students in the Fall ’07 semester are doing great things in Chicago!”

Learning About Puerto Rican Culture in Chicago

Becky Stueve, Administrative & Special Projects Facilitator, describes her experience with Notre Dame’s LearnChicago! program:

 This fine October Tuesday morning found me riding the bus to Division Street, along with the LearnChicago! group from Notre Dame. Despite being slightly nervous that I was leading them in the wrong direction (this is the first group I was leading as a new Apprentice), I was very excited for this trip in the Paseo Borico community. Despite my nervousness, we made it to the Division Street Business Development Association where we met with Eduardo Arocho, our tour guide for the day.

The first place Eduardo led us was the huge steel Puerto Rican flag that marked the beginning of Paseo Boriqua. The flag was dedicated on Jan 6, 1995. Eduardo talked about the symbolism in that date. Jan 6th is the Three Kings Day, and 1995 marked the centennial of the adoption of the Puerto Rican flag in 1895. Eduardo also pointed out the steel plates mounted on the light poles. These paid tribute to the three cultures that define the Puerto Rican culture: the Spanish, Taino, and West African.

From there, Eduardo led us west, down the street. He pointed out the apartment buildings that are going up, and the distinctly Spanish influence of the architecture. We also went into a bookstore, where we found Harry Potter….written entirely in Spanish!
Eduardo also pointed out the murals that are painted on the Division Street buildings. There was one called “The Sea of Flags.”

It was a sea of people proudly waving and carrying the Puerto Rican flag. This struck me because at one time, as I learned from Eduardo, it was illegal to carry the Puerto Rican flag. Another mural painted a beautiful picture of Puerto Rico, with blue skies, clear water, and graceful birds either resting in the water or soaring above.

As we walked along, neither I nor the students could help noticing the “No Vendo” signs in the almost every business. Eduardo pointed out several times that gentrification is a huge issue in this Puerto Rican neighborhood. The businesses of the community, which are 90% owned by Puerto Ricans, are committed educating visitors about Puerto Rican culture, history, dining and the contributions of Puerto Ricans to Chicago.

We ended our tour at Nellie’s, where we divulged in delicious entrees. To sum it up, it was a fabulous morning, spent with fabulous people, on a fabulous street.