No Art for the Sake of Art

September 2012

Standing stories tall, the buildings of Pilsen are decorated with fantastic murals that echo a colorful history of the Latino people who now inhabit this community. Images of families, religious figures, and the everyday common man painted seamlessly into Azteca inspired designs are common depictions found in the mural wall art.

 Jose Guerrero, 72, is the master behind some of the Pilsen community murals.  Born in San Antonio, Texas, in 1938, Guerrero came to Chicago where he would eventually find his niche as a mural artist. 

“In 1964, I came to Chicago because me and this fellow were just travelling.  We didn’t come here for no particular reason,” explained Guerrero.  Looking for work, Guerrero and his friends travelled often, where they would find odd jobs that would last weeks or months at a time. 

Guerrero described his days as a younger man, part of the working class society.  “In the early 50s, I was working at a factory called National Video, where they made TV tubes.  They were experimenting with color.  But, the time came after about 5 years that I was there that the Japanese were making better tubes.”  Guerrero explained how his jobs did not stop his creative drive. “When I was working, I was always doing sketches.  24 hours a day.”

By the 70s, Guerrero was working for Sunbeam.  “There I met a lot of people- organizers.  They called their organization the RU, or the Revolutionary Union.  They asked me, because they had a pamphlet they would put out, to do the drawings for them- cartoons, describing the story they were talking about,” Guerrero recalled.

  After working on the RU project, he was told about a meeting of artists in Gary, Indiana and was encouraged to go. Hesitant at first, Guerrero decided to attend.  He met several professional artists, including John Weber, a professor at Elmhurst College, who suggested Guerrero work on murals.  “I said sure, but I didn’t know a lot about murals, and I never considered myself a good painter.”  It was at 37 S. Ashland that Guerrero worked on one of his first murals.  “I was surprised because it came out good, and to me, it’s one of the best murals I have ever worked on.”      

When muralists from Mexico came to view the work of Guerrero, they provided helpful critiques.  “What you’re doing is collages here.  You’re not using the structure properly,” Guerrero described their comments.  He felt fortunate to work with them. One was Hector Duarte.  Guerrero had just received a grant to do a mural, and Duarte needed money, so together they worked on the mural where he studied Duarte’s techniques carefully.  “I was watching him do all the geometrical lines and all that, and I learned from him.  How do you look at a mural? How do you approach a wall to do a mural?  If the spectator is standing here, what should they see?” explained Guerrero.  “It’s architecture, it’s not a canvas.  So I took that into consideration.”   

After working with his muralist counterparts, Guerrero worked independently.  He began to travel in order to learn more about mural painting and techniques.  David Siqueiros, one of the ‘Big Three’ Mexican Muralists, had opened a school in Mexico for mural painting.  Guerrero went to visit the studio.  “I learned about line, perspective of architecture- that the muralist should take the spectator into consideration.  No matter the position you look at it, it should make sense.”   

Naturally gifted, Guerrero was not formally trained, artistically speaking.  His work with other muralists was supplemented by time he spent at art schools. “At the American Academy of Art and School of the Art Institute [of Chicago] I was an artist at large, occasionally spending Saturdays there for figure drawing,” explained Guerrero.

But the art created by Guerrero is not just line, perspective and paint.  Guerrero maintains the motto, “there is no art for the sake of art.”  Growing up in San Antonio, Guerrero was exposed to political violence and racial tensions.  The story of the Alamo essentially provided a basis for Guerrero’s artistic message.   He explains how he was taught that those who fought for the Alamo were heroes.  In reality, Guerrero explained, “they attacked Mexico, they killed people, they took their land.  The Alamo is a symbol of white supremacy.”

“You got to understand that we live in a class society. And also segregated.  People are still aware of white people, they are aware of black people. So I believe that art has a lot of social and political context” said Guerrero. 

    Initially coming to Chicago, Guerrero and his friends discovered Pilsen to be an area that catered to their need of Mexican dining.  But after spending more time in the area, Guerrero described Pilsen to be a “slum” abandoned by its previous European inhabitants.  “And now the Mexicans come here, they have the schools. And now gentrification is saying you got to go, and we don’t want to go anywhere.  But money talks, you know.  They got the power. But the people are showing that they have power, too, by taking care of the houses, building schools, and so on.  It’s something tangible, not just a lot of talk like the politicians.”

He explained how gentrification wants to create an environment for consumers.  “A Starbuck’s here and a Starbuck’s there, completely generic.  But no, we want to stay here.” 

One of his most recent works, a mural he directed in 2001 with the help of DePaul art students and on the side of the Pilsen Neighbors Community Council building, illustrates the political and social themes Guerrero finds essential to his art.  We are her, and we aim to stay here is the center banner for the piece.  To the left, a woman holds a globe in her hand- the continent of Africa showing to represent the origin of man.  To the right, the Virgen de Guadalupe grows out of a maguey cactus.  Guerrero explained, “This being a community of Latinos, there is a community of religious people. I don’t know if religion is good or bad, but you got to respect the people who are here.”

To the far left of the mural, a man holds wheel, described by Guerrero as a “wheel of history.”  “People should know their own history.  Now all this in mind, how can you write, how can you paint, and not consider that?  What are you painting then? You are painting what you know- your roots.” Guerrero, inspired by muralists like Diego Rivera and David Siqueiros, explains how their art became the “cultural arm of the Mexican Revolution.”  He said, “They had fought for civil rights, for the dignity of people.   It should be the cultural arm of any people who live in any community.”   

Corroded with time, however, the images are faded, and patches of paint missing.  Guerrero intends to restore the mural in a month, but realistically expects it to be complete in the next year. 

Guerrero, now a full time artist, gives print lessons and mural tours based out of the Mexican Fine Arts Museum.  “To me, mural painting is the most advanced form of art. When it started in Mexico, the people could not read. So the artists did a big thing by illustrating what was happening in the revolution.” 

The Pilsen murals tell a story of a community.  Guerrero, like his predecessors, uses the architecture to express concerns surrounding gentrification, immigration, and to display the unique culture of the Latino people.  “That’s why I do paintings, because I’m not a person who turns the other cheek.”

Satellite Studio Space Reaches Out to Pilsen Youth

October 2010

For Alana Garth, 18, the South Chicago Art Center has created opportunities this young teen may have never experienced in the classroom- making art.  Despite the vibrant art scene in the community of Pilsen, art programs in South Chicago public schools are limited.  To address this issue, the South Chicago Art Center, located in the Millgate neighborhood on 91^st Street, will be reaching out to the Pilsen community for Chicago Artists Month this October to provide the local youth with after-school art classes. 

Garth helped at the opening event of the Pilsen Satellite Space.  For the past 8 years, Garth participated in the after-school programs of the center. “Our schools didn’t have a lot of money for these kinds of programs.  Going to the center, I could actually be someone,” Garth said.  Now Garth is helping give back.  “I love kids, and to communicate with them,” she said.  “It’s very hands on.  And it makes the community better,” Garth explained. 

The center has opened a temporary Satellite Studio Space at 1823 S. Halsted to host several free events and workshops throughout the month.  At the grand opening of the studio space on September 25^th, youth from the Pilsen area came to participate in the open studio time, displaying their artistic efforts by decorating cupcakes, making beaded jewelry, and coloring Day of the Dead themed pictures.

            Designed to reach out to the youth of Pilsen, the Satellite Studio will offer classes and studio time which will allow participants to create art and learn about various art mediums and techniques.  With local Pilsen artists teaching the workshops, the goal is to have the area youth to get involved with the center’s after-school programs.

            Pilsen native Maria Villarreal has been a teacher with the South Chicago Art Center for 5 years and is excited to be involved with this project.  “I love what I’ve been doing, and being in my neighborhood brings me comfort,” she said.  Villareal teaches about an array of artistic creations, ranging from quilt and puppet making to painting.  “I like working with recyclable things,” she mentioned. 

Sarah Ward, the Executive Director of the South Chicago Art Center explained how the Satellite Space is not the only program affecting Pilsen.  “We are offering four classes at Walsh Elementary school, a school that doesn’t have a lot of art programs for their students,” Ward said. 

According to Beth McGovern, the Program Director of the South Chicago Art Center, reaching the youth in the classroom is very important.  “The center teaches in classrooms that have no art; most of these schools have no cultural programming at all. Thus, young people are learning solely with the left side of their brain, and these schools have some of the lowest test scores in Chicago,” she explained. 

            The mission of the South Chicago Art Center is very clear: reaching out to disadvantaged youth who otherwise might never experience art in a classroom setting. “The Center is dedicated to educating youth in visual arts practices, bringing arts education to the impoverished schools of South Chicago, stimulating imaginations and intellectual curiosity through the arts, and to promote friendship, solidarity and peace in a community troubled by poverty, crime and racial tension,” McGovern said.

The South Chicago Art Center started in 2001 to provide the local youth with free after-school programs that the public schools could not offer.  “The center aspires to redirect youth from potentially negative activities after school by providing them with opportunities for positive and aspiring programs,” McGovern explained.  “The objective is to offer a safe and welcoming space where young people are respected and can feel part of a larger community while improving their artistic skills,” she continued. 

            For Pilsen, the temporary Satellite Studio Space will be open until October 29th 2010.  The free events that will take place at the Satellite Space will include Open Studios every Wednesday from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Visual Arts Workshop every Thursday from 3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.; 12 x 12 Workshop every Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.  Wednesday, October 13^th, there will be an Adult Fundraiser from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. 

            McGovern looks forward to seeing the results of the Satellite Space in Pilsen.  “The anticipated outcome is that more people will learn about the South Chicago Art Center and the important work we do.  Hopefully the special events at the space will help us cultivate more individual donors,” she said.  “This is the first time we have ever done something like this so we are very excited about the opportunity.”