Mujeres Mutantes: Giving Communities Access to Inspiring Art
Growing up, I always wanted to be an artist. But as fate would have it, I was pretty terrible at all of it. I tried my hand at graffiti for a brief stint in high school (until my mom found out and kicked my ass). I couldn’t draw more than a few stick figures, and soon I decided I’d rather be really good at PlayStation.
The point being that some people are just born to create art. There are those that seem to come out the womb with the gift of poetry or knack for visual arts. The rest of us are stuck looking at canvases and stages, gawking in awe.
That’s exactly how the Mujeres Mutantes artwork left me feeling. Mujeres Mutantes, which translates to mutant women in Spanish, is an all-Latina women's arts collective hailing from the Pilsen neighborhood in Chicago. There are about 20 women in the group who work in acrylic and oil painting, mosaic art, doll making, graphic design, graffiti art, jewelry making, and large-scale mural work.
“We’re all women artists trying to juggle the whole life balance thing with our families and trying to keep being artists. A lot of us are moms,” said Meela Paloma, a member of the Mujeres Mutantes (MM) art collective. “Since I’ve been working with Delilah [Salgado], I’ve made work and if it hadn’t been for her I probably wouldn’t be making work. We all push each other to meet deadlines and do great stuff.”
Delilah Salgado is one of the co-founders of MM and Paloma’s childhood friend. Salgado and Paloma grew up together, motivated each other and improved at their craft together.
“On the south side it was either you’re in a gang or you did graffiti,” said Paloma. “If you didn’t do either then you were on your own and that’s pretty tough as a teenager to be on your own in the city.”
She started focusing on art in high school and has developed since her early graffiti days to reflect her personal style. “It’s changed a lot. It’s changing in that I’m changing as a person,” said Paloma. “My art has always been a reflection of my state of mind.”
While Paloma and the rest of MM are constantly juggling their lives as family women and artists, they still find time to give back to the community. Currently MM has a residency at Port Ministries, a non-profit organization located on the southwest side of Chicago dedicated to offering free services and resources to south side community residents. In exchange for their residency, members of MM lead free weekly art workshops at Port Ministries.
In addition to their work with Port Ministries, MM does art shows that are free for the community. The group tries to host a few shows a year, with a wide range of topics, usually located on the west or south sides of Chicago.
“Our shows are always free. It’s not that people who don’t have a lot of money don’t appreciate art. Its that they don’t have an opportunity to see art,” Paloma said. “For us to have a free show, we want people to see it, to take an interest in it. They don’t have to go to a museum to see good art.”
Exposing underprivileged communities to fine art culture is one of the driving motivations for Paloma and MM. The collective aims to inspire and grant access to artistic outlets that otherwise wouldn’t exist.
“Growing up, I found my place in art and it’s inspired me to do everything I want to do in life. If I can give another young woman the vision that they don’t only have to grow up and make babies and be a mom; [That] they can be doctors, pilots, and artists,” added Paloma. “Its community engagement. Introducing the fine art culture into these communities so that they can see that art is available to them, that it’s an option.”
On Friday, Nov.18, Mujeres Mutantes will be engaging with the community for the 6th Annual Beautiful Souls Coffin Show. The event is a multicultural fusion of the Mexican holiday, Dia de Los Muertos and the American holiday of Halloween. Artists paint, decorate or create a mini alter using a 12 x 18 “coffin.” The goal of the exhibit is to celebrate and honor those who have inspired them as well as those they’ve lost in the world. The event will be held at the at 4Arts Space on the fourth floor of the Zhou B Art Center at 1029 W. 35th St, in Chicago from 6-10pm.
For more information you can find Mujeres Mutantes on Facebook: MujeresMutantes or Instagram: MujeresMutantes.
