A Knot of Ideas
The ideas they told me about the city were of concrete slabs, marginalized and homeless people, litter, and choas. Coming from an upper class suburb near Laguna Beach in California I was nervous I wouldn’t like Chicago. The idea of a dull city with little to do but sit in my room and hide away from the dangers of the city bugged me, in fact I was only excited for my classes. I flew out on a Monday, away from my friends and family, the beaches I loved, and the art in my community that I would miss so much. By my first night in the city I found that I was in love.
There was no way these flowers were real. The class had split into three groups and were given the ability to walk around Lincoln Park, my group had decided to walk towards the Lake. On the way there we walked by the Nature Museum or something, some streets with cool cafes to study at, and of course the zoo (admission is free you just walk right in). I was astonished at how much nature was within the city, considering what we hear about pollution and air quality and just the overall first thought one has of a city. I began to look around the city everyday for different displays of beauty in the city. I found that doing that allows for me to enjoy each second more and more than I previously had and makes even the places we pass everyday more interesting for myself.
Pilsen has quickly become one of my places to walk around, I’ve visited three times already since the class walked through. During the classes tour of the area I was blown away by how much art could mean to a community, especially one as diverse as Pilsen. The murals serve as inspiration for me on a daily basis, whether it be a visual inspiration or the art speaking to me to make my mark on my community.
This mural says Let It Rain in the City. Done on the Pilsen wall along 17th street. When the class walked by I was captivated, trying to figure out what the artist was trying to say because my understanding is that it rains quite often out here, its already rained like three times since we’ve been out here. The colors really caught my attention too and the character of the mural. I’m still not sure what the mural means.
I thought I would miss how beautiful the golden coast was, but the more time the class spent walking in the city, the more I became entranced with the artwork these muralists painted in the city. With this piece I didn’t even try to understand it, and I never will, at least for a while, because at the moment I’m simply pleased aesthetically by the way the wall looks and how the shapes and colors play with one another. The artwork in the city really got me inspired, Pilsen being one of my favorite stops by far, a place I hope to film in (lowkey) and to just reflect upon and observe a community near me.
I’m not entirely sure where this photo was taken or on which trip, but I remember the moment. I remember thinking at that moment that my culture at home, the beach culture, could still live within the city, and this lone bus spoke to me, saying it’s okay to be who I am and come from where I do in California, because believe it or not I have been judged a lot already based on the way I look (like a surfer), talk (like a surfer), and so on and so forth. I don’t feel attacked in any way, it’s just interesting to be treated like a stereotype, and this bus somehow spoke to me saying that I did’t need to worry about any of that because Chicago is full of all types of cultures and people from all over the planet. In fact DePaul University has plenty of kids from California that are interested in the same things as me.
