April - June 2009 Blog Entries

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Dec - Oct 2009| Sept - July 2009 | June - Apr 2009
March - Jan 2009 | Dec - Nov 2008 | Oct 2008 |
Sept 2008 | Aug 2008 | July - Apr 2008

 

Tuesday, June 30, 2009 ~ Dress-up is good for the soul

	These pictures were taken in May during an after-school class. Kids got the chance to dress up and be someone else when teacher Maria Villarreal brought in clothes and props! Students posed for pictures that were then printed out and incorporated into their art projects. (left: Khadejha the movie star)
America the hula dancer	Kendell the sheriff
Angel the folk singer	Kemonta the gardener
Jakeya the old church lady	Dr. Kaneeshea & Nurse Shalaya

 

 

Wednesday, June 24, 2009 ~ Yay for companies that support community gardens !

Yesterday Sarah received an email to confirm that the South Chicago Art Center's Artists' Garden has been selected to receive a donation, from the Corner Bakery Cafe Community Garden Grant. They did a search on the web and found our community garden! The email states:

"This donation is a part of the "Stay Local" program Corner Bakery Cafe is launching this summer. Through the end of September, Corner Bakery Cafe will use locally-sourced tomatoes in its BBLT sandwich, a double-bacon twist on the classic BLT. And, to honor those that grow locally every day, Corner Bakery will donate a portion of this summer's proceeds, up to $500, from the BBLT sandwich to 15 community gardens nationwide, including the South Chicago Art Center's Artists' Garden. You can expect to receive the donation during the month of October. Also, as part of this program, starting on July 1, 2009 Corner Bakery Cafe will invite the public to post a photo, video or even just a sentence on the new Corner Bakery Cafe Facebook wall, representing what they are doing this summer to "Stay Local." As a thank you, Corner Bakery Cafe will send participants a coupon for a free sweet with the purchase of a BBLT or any other lunch or dinner entre. The more wall posts there are, the more coupons will be sent out, and the more coupons that are sent out, the more BBLTs will be purchased, which in turn, will result in more proceeds. So, make sure to spread the word! Remember though, the new page, www.facebook.com/cornerbakerycafe.com, will not be live until July 1, 2009."

 

 

 

Thursday, June 18, 2009 ~ School's Out!

School's out! That means we are gearing up for our busy summer program---garden classes in the morning, week-long workshops, open studio in the afternoons and field trips. We will also have several teen interns working at the Art Center this summer. To see the summer calendar, click here.

 

 

 

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 ~ A Day In the Life of Open Studio

One day a week the Art Center provides open studio time where youth can experiment with the techniques they have learned. Kids make everything from jewelry and pillows to cartoon drawings, maracas, and houses. It's a favorite day of Art Center students! Here are some pictures taken by Columbia graduate student, Christine Crosby.

 

 

 

Thursday, June 4, 2009 ~ Off to Grad School...

Michelle, our AmeriCorps Program Assistant, recently got accepted into graduate school! She will be leaving this month to get her master's in Community Arts from the Maryland Institute College of Art.   We wish her the best! But don't be too sad-- she will return briefly in August to finish her AmeriCorps hours.   Congrats Michelle!

 

 

 

Monday, June 1, 2009 ~ In-School Program Ends

Our in-school program is winding down. As you may or may not know, we go into local schools that lack art teachers and art curriculum. This year we worked in 7 schools. This was our first year working in Sacred Heart, a local parochial school. We incorporate the art project into what students are studying. These two classes enjoyed using felt to create underwater creatures and colonial life.

 

 

Friday, May 29, 2009 ~ 2009 Summer Links Intern = Lucy

Each summer we apply to get a University of Chicago Summer Links intern to work in the Artists' Garden. We interview several candidates, hoping to find the right fit because it's not an easy job. This year we have found our intern--Lucy! Here is her reason for wanting to work at the Art Center:

Hello Sarah, I've been dragging through procrastination and writer's block for the past week. I suspect that my resulting papers haven't been up to snuff. If these paragraphs follow in that trend, I hope you'll overlook it. I may not be articulate, but I'm mighty like an ox and I like kids and young adults. I want to work in South Chicago because I don't understand neighborhoods like South Chicago or the people in them very well...click here to read the rest

 

 

 

Friday, May 20, 2009 ~ Happy Memorial Day!

Yes it does! The Art Center will be closed on Memorial Day. We wish everyone a safe and happy holiday!

 

 

 

Wednesday, May 20, 2009 ~ Quilting class continues with Maria V.

There are a few more sessions of Maria's quilting class at the Villa Guadalupe. The seniors are enjoying spending time together & quilting. They have created some beautiful individual quilts that will be sewn together to create a collaborative quilt.

 

 

 

Thursday, May 14, 2009 ~ Cupcakes!

For those who don't know, cupcakes are all the rage in Chicago. People will pay $4 a cupcake at some places! Art Center kids created their own cupcakes with Model Magic clay and glossy paint. Teacher Lisa Tasner taught the class. Check out a few examples of these beautiful, delectable cupcakes created by the students. Too bad we can't eat them...

 

 

 

Thursday, May 14, 2009 ~ Garden Class

Garden class has been happening on Tuesdays after-school. Kids love going to the garden! Thea Maria Carlson from Angelic Organics Learning Center teaches the classes and during the latest class, kids got to do some planting.

 

 

 

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 ~ Gathering Space for the Artists' Garden cont'd...

Remember this post? The teens continue to work with Roman on the gathering space in the garden. Here they are building the arbor.
	Above: Cece and Alanna pose for a picture. Left: Cece and Josh's dog assists the teens.

 

 

 

Wednesday, May 13, 2009 ~ Saying Goodbye to Jonathan Fanton

The president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Jonathan Fanton is retiring. MacArthur Foundation has supported LISC/Chicago with implementing several programs for Chicago's neighborhoods. An event is being held for Fanton in June and in preparation for it, a film crew came to the Center to take some footage for a video.

Saying "thank you" for the videographer, outside the Center.

 

 

Wednesday, May 6, 2009 ~ Gathering Space for the Artists' Garden

Artist Roman Villarreal is doing another project with paid teen interns. With a Nosey Neighbor grant from the Claretian Associates, New Communities Program we received money to create a gathering space in the Artists' Garden. The plan is to build: -2 benches -an arbor covering the benches, that will be made of natural elements and will have an art element hanging from it, possibly made out of metal -a decorative dog, made out of cement Pictured is the process of building the dog. Pretty cool, huh? A few rain days have slowed down their progress but the gathering space should be finished by the end of May.

 

 

Wednesday, May 6, 2009 ~ Quilting Class with Maria V.

With a grant from the Claretian Associates, New Communities Program, we are currently teaching senior citizens quilting. Local artist Maria Villarreal is teaching the class at the Villa Guadalupe for 6 weeks.

 

 

 

Friday, May 1, 2009 ~ Commerical Avenue artwork

Neil and Raya at the South Chicago Chamber of Commerce gave us plywood and asked Art Center participants to paint some images. We gladly obliged and now these images are on 90th & Commercial Avenue, covering an empty lot.
	The scenery from the apprenticeship programwas also included. We love beautifying South Chicago!

 

 

 

Wednesday, April 29, 2009 ~ Let sleeping dogs lie

Remember the adorable puppy from this post? Check out its napping positions...

 

 

Tuesday, April 28, 2009 ~ More beautiful photography

This is an update on Becca's photography class with the three teenagers, Cece, Maria, and Joshua. Becca recently took the teens to the meat packing district of Chicago for one class, which was very exciting for them. Click here to see some of the favorite pictures taken by the teens from all of their classes with Becca.

 

 

Monday, April 20, 2009 ~ Weekend news -- first the good news...

On Saturday, we had 25 student-volunteers come to work in the Art Center's Artists' Garden. It was a beautiful day to get dirty and beautify the community for "Earth Week". The students turned over soil in many of the plots as well as transplanted our perennials from the center of the garden to both sides of the path, that runs through the garden. We were able to plant cucumbers, snap peas and beans along our new fence that was funded by the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation.
	Thanks University Community Service Center at the University of Chicago!

 

 

	Also over the weekend, part of the Art Center's parapet fell off. The building is old and this combined with the weather finally caused it to crumble. St. Jude, who we rent the building from, is currently cleaning it up and repairing it. We are glad that no one got hurt. Classes will continue, as scheduled.

 

 

Friday, April 17, 2009 ~ Sarah talks animals

	Most would say the Art Center is an after-school and in-school visual arts program for kids in South Chicago, but we can be much more. Spring is coming and our furry friends are having babies in alleys everywhere down here. Unfortunately, there are many abandon dogs and cats, many who once were owned and just let go when they were no longer cute or wanted. When I first came down in 2001 there were packs of stray dogs! This little guy is no stray but a friend's who came to the Art Center this week. He loves to play with Stella and already seems to know he is a giant--a Cane Corso- Italian Mastif. I like to show the kids that you can love animals and that they can bring a lot of happiness to your life.
Stella and puppy playing outside

 

 

 

Tuesday, April 7, 2009 ~ Ben is Back!

Ben Milch came to the Art Center as an intern from DePaul University. Sometimes we get interns who just want to go through the motions, get their class credit, and then be done with it. But other times, we get interns who realize what a great place the Art Center is and really want to participate. Ben falls into this latter category. Ben not only fulfilled his intern responsibilities, he took the initiative to learn how to teach classes. He has since graduated from DePaul and is back teaching in both our in-school and after-school programs.
	Students like his quirky classes that sometimes involve electrical tape, shower curtains, and light switch covers. Pictured below is one of Ben's more traditional classes

 

 

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 ~ Endowment !!!

Wow, do we have some fantastic news to share with you! An anonymous donor has generously given a donation to the Art Center in the amount of $5,000,000!!! This donation will be used to create an endowment for the Art Center. In other words, the donation will be put in an investment account, and the Art Center will operate off of the interest created. This means that the future of the Art Center is secure and that we will be able to provide free visual art classes to South Side children, for many, many, many more years to come! As you can imagine, we are thrilled. And lastly, we would like to add ... Happy April Fool's Day! We wish the news was real but it's not. Hey, we can hope!

 

Present | Nov 2010- June 2010| May 2010- Jan 2010
Dec - Oct 2009| Sept - July 2009 | June - Apr 2009
March - Jan 2009 | Dec - Nov 2008 | Oct 2008 |
Sept 2008 | Aug 2008 | July - Apr 2008