“I was Born and raised in the Little Village neighborhood of Chicago to Mexican immigrant parents, I grew up alongside two sisters and an older brother.

I am a self-taught painter, muralist, and printmaker, and I was also formally trained at Columbia College Chicago earning a B.A. in Graphic Design.

I find inspiration in everyday life situations and strive to incorporate topics that are central to my culture and environment. Themes include music, social issues, poverty, violence, sex, and graffiti with a central focus on the people around me and my community. My work has been influenced by various artists, among them the work of Jose Guadalupe Posada, Leopoldo Mendez, Elizabeth Catlett, and the graphic artist, muralist and political activist Carlos Cortez.

Printmaking is my preferred media, and wood blocks would have to be my preferred material to carve and ink. I continue to challenge ideas that are backward thinking and a menace to a healthy society by creating prints that question these thoughts.”

Antonio Pazarán 

Instituto Grafico de Chicago, Inc. 2012 – Present

Antonio is a founding member of the print collective Instituto Gráfico de Chicago; a collective established with fellow ink slingers /block carvers. The mission of IGC is to promote and preserve the art of printmaking as well as to fulfill the needs of Latinx graphic artists that have been underrepresented in the world of print.

Alex Velazquez Brightbill is a Mexican artist who immigrated to Chicago at the age of ten. She earned a BFA from Northeastern Illinois University and has shown at numerous galleries and curated art shows and cultural events. Her artwork embodies the hybridity of growing up with two cultural experiences.

Atlan Arceo-Witzl is a Mexican-American visual artist and creator whose work is concerned with everyday rituals, icons, symbols, objects, and language. In his artistic practice, the cultural production of print ephemera, craft of the sign-painting industry, redefining "American" through a Latinx lens, and documenting/ recording of events across multiple mediums/ languages are current points of focus. He is a graduate of Skidmore College with a Bachelors of Science in Studio Art with a concentration in relief printmaking and sculpture. He lives in Chicagoland, IL pursuing a career in the arts and education while enjoying the fascinating human game of communication.

Carlos Barberena is a Nicaraguan Contemporary Artist / Printmaker best known for his satirical relief prints and the use of images from pop culture, as well as from political and cultural tragedies.

Barberena has exhibited individually in Costa Rica, Estonia, France, Mexico, Nicaragua, Spain and The United States of America, his work also has been shown in Art Biennials, Museums, Galleries and Cultural Centers around the world. 

He has received various awards: “The Otis Philbrick Memorial Prize” - Collection: The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston - Boston Printmakers 2023 North American Print Biennial, Boston, MA; “2e PRIX de la 13e Biennale Internationale d’Estampe Contemporaine de Trois-Rivières” Québec, Canada; “- Best in Show - PrintAustin: The Contemporary Print” 2023 Juried Exhibit, The Art Galleries at Austin Community College, Austin, TX; “DNSPE Purchase Award 2022” Bradbury Art Museum, Jonesboro, AR; “The Elizabeth Catlett Memorial Award” 2021 MAPC Juried Exhibit, University of Iowa;- Second Prize - "9th Annual Art Competition”, Bridgeport Art Center, Chicago; “National Printmaking Award 2012” Nicaraguan Institute of Culture, Nicaragua; “Parchemin d’Honneur”, 8 Triennale Mondial de l’Estampe et de la Gravure Originale, AMAC, Chamalieres, France and the Award- Poster for the Ecology and Human Rights in Banana Plantations in Costa Rica, GEBANA, Berlin, Germany.

Barberena’s work is included in numerous public and private collections.

Currently Barberena lives and works in Chicago where he runs the printmaking projects: Bandolero Press & La Calaca Press. He is also a member of the Instituto Grafico de Chicago.

www.carlosbarberena.com

www.bandoleropress.com

CHema Skandal! was born in Mexico City, He has a B.F.A. in Visual Communications Illustration Emphasis. He lives and works in Chicago, IL

EDUCATION

Faculty of Arts and Design University of México U.N.A.M. 2006

EXPERIENCE

Picnic Magazine 2006 - 2007 Graphic Design team. Designed magazine articles and produced advertising for a variety of clients including Art Galleries and Museums. Designed book jackets, covers, brochures, catalogues and postcard invitations.

Warp Design Bureau 2008 Graphic Design team. Graphic Design and production, including printed and digital advertising. Panic digital magazine contributor - Design and illustration. Illustration development for different clients including: Nike, Ambiguous clothing company, Group Editorial Expansión & Fashion Week México.

Freelance 2008 - 2011 Graphic Design and Illustration development for a wide variety of clients.

Teaching Artist 2011 - 2013 - CARES: Community Arts Resources to Engage Students program from the National Museum of Mexican Art in Chicago Public Schools

Art production 2006 - 2015 Painting and printing trough different traditional methods including: acrylic / tempera / oil on different mediums, serigraph, linocut, etching, woodblock, lithography, etc.

AWARDS

- CONACULTA Illustration Catalogue - México 2004

- Concorso D'llustrazione - Venice, Italy 2005

- Quorum Illustration prize - Silver medal - México 2006

- Comic contest winner - Gold medal - México 2006

- CONACULTA Poster design prize - Silver medal - México 2007 - Featured as one of the 20 most prominent mexican Illustrators - Reforma newspaper - México 2008

- Ambiguous Clothing exclusive artist 2009 - Chilango magazine column Illustrator - México 2009 - 2010

- Artist Residency - Toulouse, France 2011

- Pecados y Milagros record Grammy winner (features a painting) 2011

- Chosen to participate in the RedBull Canvas Cooler project and voted winner by the public 2013

www.facebook.com/chemaskandal

Eric J. Garcia is known for mixing history and culture with contemporary politics, Mr. Garcia always tries to create art that is much more than just aesthetics.  Garcia has exhibited nationally to include such institutions like San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Latin American Art, and the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit.  Received his BFA with a minor in Chicano studies from the University of New Mexico, Garcia went on to completed his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. A versatile artist working in an assortment of media, from hand-printed posters, to larger than life murals, to his controversial political cartoons, they all have a common goal of educating and challenging.

EDUCATION

2009 The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, MFA Painting & Drawing

2006 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM. BFA, Summa Cum Laude Major: Art Studio-Painting Emphasis, Minor: Chicano Studies

1997 Working Classroom Mural Apprenticeship with Joe Stevenson, Albuquerque, NM

AWARDS

2017 Chicago Artist Coalition Maker Grant: Sponsored by Peoples Pixels (OPP) and the Coney Family Fund.

2015 South Bend Heritage Foundation Art and Social Justice Award, Colfax Campus Gallery. South Bend, IN

2014 Vermont Marshall Frankel Fellowship: Fully funded month-long residency for SAIC Alumni at the Vermont Studio Center.

National  Alliance of Artists Communities  and The Joyce Foundation : Midwest Voices and Visions Fellowship

2012 South Bend Heritage Foundation Art and Social Justice Award, Colfax Campus Gallery. South Bend, IN

2008 Jacob Javits Fellowship Illinois College Associated Press: 1 st Place College Cartoonist Award for editorial cartoon in FNews

RESIDENCIES

2015 Jackman Goldwasser Residency at the Hyde Park Art Center. Sponsored by the Joyce Foundation. Chicago, IL

2014 Vermont Studio Center Vermont Marshall Frankel Fellowship. Johnson, VT

2013 Kohler Center for the Arts Arts/Industry Program. Kohler, WI

2009 Yollocalli Arts Reach The National Museum of Mexican Art. Chicago, IL

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2016 National Veterans Art Museum Operation Mom’s Couch Chicago,IL

2015 University of Illinois Springfield Background, Springfield, IL

2014 Multi Culti Gallery/Performance Space El Machete Illustrated, Chicago, IL

2012 DePaul University Between the Chac Mool, and the Chalice. Chicago, IL

2010 Prospectus Gallery The Santa Fe Railroad. Chicago, IL

GROUP EXHIBITIONS [Invited]

2017 Hyde Park Art Center Virtue of the Vicious, Chicago IL

National Museum of Mexican Art Memoria Presente: An Artistic Journey, Chicago IL

MACLA 6th Chicano/a Biennial, San Jose, CA

National Hispanic Cultural Center Aquí Estamos: The Heart of Arte, Abq, NM

University of Indianapolis Herencia, DeHaan Fine Arts Center. Indianapolis, IN

OPEN Center for the Arts Montooneros, Chicago, IL

2016 Notre Dame Center for Arts and Culture

ARTE PAÑO CONTEMPORANEO: A TRADITION REVIVED, South Bend, Indiana.

University of Dayton Latino Art of the Midwest: Into the 21st Century, Dayton Ohio

St Ambrose University Justice: Alternative Voices and Progressive Themes in Comics, Davenport, Iowa.

www.ericjgarcia.com

José Luis Gutiérrez is an artist and teacher with classroom and arts administration experience who is dedicated to creating programs that foster student and community empowerment. Striving to be a cultural worker who is committed to building community and addressing issues of social justice through holistic arts education programs.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS)

Hurley Fine & Performing Arts Elementary School 2016 – Present Hedges Elementary School 2014 – 2016 Farragut Career Academy 2002 – 2005

As a K-8th grade art teacher I teach painting drawing, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, and media arts. I implement an outcome-based curriculum that aligns to state and national standards. I assess my students regularly and make Bi-lingual and IEP accommodations for students with special needs. I collaborate with classroom teachers to develop integrated units to support student’s academic growth. I am also the art liaison at my school that is responsible for completing school reports and representing my school at district meetings and events. I am also in charge of grant writing to sustain partnerships with local agencies that provide my school with added resources. I also teach parent art classes and offer my students an open studio afterschool.

Instituto Grafico de Chicago, Inc. 2012 – Present

I am a co-founder and treasurer of a not-for-profit arts organization that is dedicated to preserving the art of printmaking and building solidarity amongst print artist in the US and other countries through collaborative portfolio projects, art classes and community events. Responsibilities include: expense report, communications with donors and partners, fundraising, coordinating projects and events.

National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA) 2006 – 2014

As the associate director of art education (2010-2014) I directed after-school art education programs in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in the southwest side of Chicago. I developed budgets and grant proposals and worked with consultants to develop program logic models and evaluation plans. I oversaw program data collection, analyzed findings and developed reports on program outcomes for funders. I interviewed and hired artists to teach programs and provided professional development on designing curriculum and teaching according to the museum’s framework. I presented our work at state and national conferences in the US and Mexico. I led site coordinators as they implemented programs and evaluation plans, organized exhibitions of student artwork and hosted culminating events at the NMMA and CPS sites to showcase student performing arts programs.

As a teaching artist (2006 – 2009) my responsibilities included teaching after-school visual art programs, painting murals, and curating exhibitions of local artists’ work in the US and Mexico. My other responsibilities involved researching Mexican culture, history and traditions for developing curriculum and educational programs. I coordinated and conducted off-site presentations, workshops and art activities to promote the museum, gallery exhibits and Mexican art and culture throughout the Chicago-land area. I taught on and off-site programs for children and adults in various classroom or community settings and offered state-approved courses for teacher recertification credits.

www.elgtz.com

Ricardo Xavier Serment is an artist and educator native to Chicago and born to Mexican parents from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. He received his BFA from Columbia College Chicago with a concentration in printmaking and his Master of Education at Dominican University.

Currently serving his community in the Back of the Yards neighborhood in Chicago Public Schools teaching Art classes at various grade levels. Presently, Ricardo resides in Pilsen and formerly was a Museum Educator at the National Museum of Mexican Art. He also continues a dedicated practice towards creating new works of art, including collaborations with other artists and organizations.

Ricardo is a founding member of a small print collaborative, the Instituto Gráfico de Chicago; which he established fellow colleagues in an effort engage in national and international printmaking collaborations.

With regard to his work, Ricardo is knowledgeable in media such as painting, papier-mâché, mosaics, and bookbinding, but mostly focuses on works on paper. His prints draw from personal and cultural experiences in order to create visual narratives; and they have been exhibited throughout the US and in the Mexico. More locally, specific pieces can be found in private collections, as well as the permanent collection of the National Museum of Mexican Art.

Artist Statement

My primary choice of medium as a visual artist is printmaking—specifically relief techniques on wood and linoleum blocks. I have chosen to specialize on relief printmaking in response to its strong cultural connection with Mexico. As such, it is not uncommon to find traces of my cultural heritage in my work. In fact, I explore the use of narratives to reveal dynamic issues confronting individuals with bi-cultural identities such as myself.

My goal as an artist is to provide viewers a fragment of the diversity within Latino culture, as a lens to analyze universal struggles encountered in contemporary society. Thus, my work is rooted in narratives that may be connected to folklore, myths, traditions and current issues. In this way, my work forms visceral connections with viewers and simultaneously serves as an introduction to diverse cultural traditions and customs. For this reason, I rely on an illustrative style which is accessible and clear to any viewer. It is my hope that my work elicits nuanced responses from viewers—responses that fully embrace all aspects of Latino culture and also contain the joy and bliss I have personally experienced throughout my life.

Salvador Jiménez-Flores is an interdisciplinary artist born and raised in Jalisco, México. Since coming to the United States, Jiménez-Flores has contributed to the art scene by producing a mixture of socially conscious installation, public, and studio-based art.

He has presented his work at the National Museum of Mexican Art, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts and Casa de la Cultura in Jalisco, México amongst others.

Jiménez-Flores recently completed a two year-long artist residency at the Harvard Ceramics Program, Office of the Arts at Harvard University. Also he served as the Artist-In-Residence for the City of Boston.

Jiménez-Flores is a recipient of the grants Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grants and The New England Foundation for the Arts. He was recently appointed Assistant Professor in ceramics at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Artist Statement

I am a nomadic artist who journeys through the Americas, creating rasquache art and high art, speaking Español, English and Spanglish. Occasionally, I feel I have a static sense of identity and sometimes I have an inventory of multiple identities. I fit in here and there but No soy ni de aquí ni de allá. I am one, in two worlds.

The move from a rural town in México to a major metropolis in the United States had a tremendous impact on my life. At first, art was merely a way of coping with the transition but later, due to my limited English, art became my tool for self-expression. In my work I document this journey of adapting to living in the United States, all while looking back at what I left behind in México.

The challenge of being bicultural and bilingual is that I live concurrently in two different worlds. I have learned to adapt to live in these two worlds, but adapting involves expanding and losing part of who I am, so I often find myself in the middle of these two territories. Everywhere I live, I am a foreigner.

"The content of my work is socio-political and is driven by my life experiences. In my work I explore the themes of colonization, migration (voluntary or involuntary), “the other,” stereotypes and cultural appropriation. I take an interdisciplinary approach with my work by choosing the media that will best fit the idea I am trying to convey. As an artist I feel I have the responsibility to address the issues that affect my community, create awareness and propose actions through my art."

www.salvadorjimenezflores.com

Vanessa Ann Sanchez

Interests: Painting. Printmaking. Drawing. Digital Imagery. Creative Youth Development. Collaborations.

Education

BFA in Painting, University of Illinois at Chicago 2005

Yale Norfolk Summer Arts Program, Norfolk, CT 2005

Exhibitions

• Mujer Luchador/Warrior Woman, Las Artelitas, Chicago, IL 2016

• Hot Seven: The Chicago Brown, Leroy Neiman Center, Chicago, IL 2016

• Latino Art of the Midwest, U of Dayton, Ohio 2016

• Voces Mujeres, Dominguez Gallery, Chicago, IL 2015

• Pilsen Open Studios, Chicago, IL 2014

• Collage Show, Cobalt Studio, Chicago, IL 2012

• Laugh Now Cry Later, Cobalt Studio, Chicago IL 2011

• Pilsen Open Studios, Chicago, IL 2011

• Latin  Electronic Music Festival Showcase, Chicago, IL 2008

• Emission Studios Group Show, Chicago, IL 2006

• Scapes (BFA Thesis Show,) Gallery 400, Chicago, IL 2005

• Yale Student Gallery, Norfolk, CT 2005 • Latino Fest, UIC, Chicago, IL 2005

Professional Experience

Director of Yollocalli Arts Reach, National Museum of Mexican Art 2005-Present

Board Member, Villapalooza Inc. 2014-Present

Mural Instructor, Castellanos Elementary 2015

Awards/Honors

“Art with an Impact,: Redeye Chicago 2014

“Super Chicas – Women across Chicago show their strength”,Extra Newspaper 2012

50 People Who Make Chicago Better”, Chicago Sun Times, 2008

Full Scholarship for Yale Norfolk Summer 2005

Professor John E. Walley Memorial Scholarship 2005

John Richardson Sr. Award for Painting 2004

Collaborative Projects

The Chicago ACT (Artists Creating Transformation) Collective

Instituto Gráfico de Chicago

Villapalooza, Little Village Music Festival

Affiliations

Chicago Youth Voices Network Co-Chair 2016-Present

Chicago Park District Burnham Arts Corridor Advisory Committee 2015

Ambassador for the Creative Youth Development Summit in Boston 2014

Chicago Hive Advisory Committee Member 2013

Professional Development

National Science Foundation Art of Science Learning Fellow, Chicago Division 2014

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