This blog is an archive

While I led Cabrini  Connections from 1993 to 2011 I encouraged volunteers, staff and students to write blogs.  This is one of them.  Google has indicated that sites not updated in the past two years will be deleted. Thus, I'm posting this update. 

Special Event at the MCA: April 20, 2011

Mark your calendars for an upcoming special event!

Jan Tichy's 'Project Cabrini Green' will be showcased on April 20 at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Time: 6:30 to 8:00 pm
Date: April 20, 2011
Location: MCA
220 East Chicago Avenue

Read more about this exhibition at the MCA.

Also, check out this recent article from Time Out Chicago - which quotes Savon Clark from Cabrini Connections.

Art Project shines "light" on Cabrini Green

PRESS RELEASE:

Artist Jan Tichy leads community art project to “light” the last high-rise at Cabrini-Green in Chicago March 28 - April 24, 2011

Beginning on the evening of March 28, the last high-rise building at the Cabrini-Green housing projects (1230 N. Burling St., Chicago) will be lit up in the form of 134 LED lights, one for each apartment in the building. The light installation will be visible in the evenings during the four-week demolition period. As the building is razed, the lights will be demolished along with the building.

The public light art installation, titled *Project Cabrini Green*, is a community-based art project conceived by artist and educator Jan Tichy. *Project Cabrini Green* involved over 200 people to realize, from Cabrini-Green and the wider city. Jan Tichy is represented by Richard Gray Gallery.

From January to March 2011, together with over 20 students from the *School of the Art Institute of Chicago*, Tichy held two and three-day workshops with local youth at *Cabrini Connections*, *Marwen*, *After School Matters Creative Writing Program at Gallery 37* and *ThaBrigade Stamps – Cabrini Green Marching Band*.

In the workshops, students were introduced to public art and light art, and brainstorming sessions and group activities were held on the concepts of Home, Public Housing, Community and Demolition. The youth were then charged with the task of writing poems or texts that addressed the concepts above. Employing a computer program developed by SAIC students that translates sound into light, the youth performed their texts for recording, creating unique light patterns. These light patterns define each of the 134 LED lights at the high-rise. Thus, the youth’s voices literally “tell” their stories through light.

As a component of *Project Cabrini Green*, live-feed footage from the site will be projected at the Museum of Contemporary Art at street-level, on the corner of Pearson and Mies Van der Rohe streets behind the museum’s glass facade, thereby rendering it visible at night. A voice/light-activated model of the high-rise will accompany the installation, and the youth participant’s written texts and audio content will be available. Tricia Van Eck, Associate Curator, is the organizing curator of the installation at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

The youth’s texts, the audio content, and the live-feed video will also be available on the project website.

For more information please visit the website (live March 23, 2011):
www.projectcabrinigreen.org or follow us on Facebook by searching “Project Cabrini Green”

For more information contact:
Erin Fowler - Richard Gray Gallery
efowler@richardgraygallery.com
(312) 642.8877

------------------------------

About Jan Tichy:
Jan Tichy is a contemporary artist and educator who works with video, sculpture, architecture, and photography. Born in Prague in 1974, Tichy studied in Israel before moving to Chicago in 2007, where he earned his MFA at the School of the Art Institute (2009) and where he now teaches. Tichy has had solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; the Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art; Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago; and the Center for Contemporary Art in Tel Aviv. Over the past years his work has been included in exhibitions in Barcelona, Basel, Berlin, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Jerusalem, New York, Paris, Prague, Stockholm, Tel Aviv, Venice, and Washington, D.C. His work, *Bats* (2007), was recently acquired by the Museum of Modern Art, New York. He has been nominated for Gottesdiener Prize of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art for 2011. In March 2011, the publication Art Review named Tichy one of the *Future Greats*.

About Cabrini Connections:
Cabrini Connections is a one-on-one tutoring and mentoring program for youth in grades 7-12 who live or go to school in and around the Cabrini-Green neighborhood of Chicago. In addition to weekly tutoring and mentoring sessions, the program also offers learning and enrichment clubs (art, video, tech, and writing), field trips to colleges and workplaces, a college application assistance program, and more.

Does this project signal end of poor families in Cabrini Green and less need for Cabrini Connections? Read this article showing number of families still in Cabrini Green and projected for the future.

About Marwen:
Founded in 1987, Marwen is a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the development of Chicago's under-served youth in grades 6-12 through free visual arts, college planning, and career preparation programs. In a typical year, students from 54 of the city's 57 zip codes and from more than 220 schools travel to Marwen, where they take classes designed and taught by practicing artists.

About After School Matters:
After School Matters® is a nonprofit organization that offers Chicago teens innovative out-of-school activities through its science37, sports37, tech37, words37 and nationally recognized gallery37 programs. Programs are provided through a network of public and private partnerships that include the Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Park District, Chicago Public Library and community organizations across the city. Hands-on, project-based programs introduce teens to rewarding careers and help them develop marketable job skills.

About ThaBrigade Stamps - Cabrini Green Marching Band:
ThaBrigade Stamps Marching Band program is a growing program designed to give youth of the Near North/Cabrini Green community training in the arts with a concentration in music education. It is a comprehensive music program encompassing the goals and objectives for music education outlined in the “No Child Left Behind Act” enabling youth to expand their artistic horizons through educational and social outlets while building their resume of accomplishments leading to a bright outlook on life.

About the Chicago Housing Authority:
CHA was created in 1937 to create and expand affordable housing opportunities for low-income families and seniors. Today CHA assists more than 50,000 Chicagoans living in public housing and participating in the Housing Choice Voucher Program. Currently, CHA is carrying out the Plan for Transformation, an ambitious revitalization effort that will deliver 25,000 units of new, affordable housing by 2015.

About the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC):
A leader in educating artists, designers, and scholars since 1866, SAIC offers nationally accredited degree programs to nearly 3,200 students from around the globe. Located in the heart of Chicago, SAIC has an educational philosophy built upon an interdisciplinary approach to art and design, giving students unparalleled opportunities to develop their creative and critical abilities, while working with renowned faculty who include many of the leading practitioners in their fields.

Students bring light to Cabrini Green

On Sunday, January 16th, and Monday, January 17th (MLK Day), Cabrini Connections students took part in a public light art workshop with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. They created stories and poems which, based on the rhythms of their recordings, were turned into blinking LED lights. These lights will be placed in each of the 134 windows of the last remaining high-rise building of Cabrini Green as part of Project Cabrini Green. A lighting event is expected to take place in March. Stay tuned for more details!

You can read more about this project and see pictures on Facebook here.

Happy Holidays from Cabrini Connections!

Click here to donate.

Calling All Sculptors, Architects, Painters & Dreamers

For those who like designing sculptures, building things and making up complex models, Monday evening's art club was quite a hit. We used a few boxes of flat toothpicks to build our designs, then we glued the pieces together, and combined sets to create some intricate 3D sculptures. A sample is pictured above.

Project Inspiration: http://www.princetonol.com/groups/iad/lessons/high/Cyndi-sculpture.htm
Credit: Cyndi Koppelman, Saline High School, Saline, Michigan

Stay tuned for next week's exciting project! We'll be drawing, painting and cutting up our work to create non-objective works of art--using the abstract paintings of Gunther Gerszo (1915-2000) as our inspiration.

The Art Club has many more fun projects planned. Drop by on Monday night to learn more!

Exciting New School Year!!

We are really looking forward to this school year and excited about the projects we have lined up. So far we have done three projects beginning with an exercise in black and white sketches to capture light and dark, points of view, and understand shading techniques. There was an assortment of fruits and vegetables of various shapes, sizes, and textures. Once they had a good grasp and a few sketches completed, we introduced color in the form of dry pastels as they had never worked with this medium before. With the next project the kids created their own silk screened t-shirts with templates donated to us by Candie Cooper. Each student made at least 2 t-shirts and they turned out amazing! The colors they created were extraordinary and some overlapped each other really giving 3-D like impressions. The last project was a bit more on the creative side as we instructed the students create a CD cover and track listing as if they were the musical artist and were promoting their own album. The finished product would then be placed into a CD jewel case to complete the look. Stay tuned for next weeks blog update as we will be starting a new project!

Art Festival Video Recap

Cabrini Connections' Video and Filmmakers Club attended the 2010 Art Festival as a documentary film crew! Everyone pitched in with some great camera work. Check it out! This piece was edited by Melissa Young.

Culmination

Thanks to all for attending the Cabrini Connections Art Festival on Friday, April 16th. Our collaborative piece (shown above) was a huge hit.
Please visit the following link for more information and photos from the event.
http://www.facebook.com/l/37e20;www.cabriniconnections.net/art-and-video-festival/175-art-festival-2010

Counting Down

Only two weeks until the Art Festival and the unveiling of our collaborative painting!

Art club is forging ahead with our large collaborative project which will be the centerpiece of our upcoming show. The final piece is a mystery to all of the students, but they will not have to wait much longer.

Only a little more than 3 weeks until the show!

Switching Gears

Art club is switching gears in anticipation of our upcoming show at the Palette & Chisel. This year's reception and silent auction will be held on Friday, April 16th.

We have started a larger collaborative piece for the show, which is a bit of a mystery for the students. A collage has been divided into 12 pieces. The students will enlarge each piece on 12"x 12" canvases. Once all the canvases have been completed, they will be assembled into a 3' x 4' painting, revealing the entire image to the students.

This piece in progress looks like Spring to me.

Revisiting faux stained glass

At the request of Isreal Dosie, Art Club is revisiting faux stained glass.

We had a great session this week and have some interesting projects in the works. Check out the beginings below and follow up next week to see how they develop.

Art Club - what's been going on...

Art Club ended 2009 with a fun beading poject. Students made bracelets and necklaces for gifts and for themselves. We could not have done all of this without the leadership of Vicky Trakan. Thanks Vicky!

Completed wire projects

Art Club completed wire projects...

Octopus by Nyshanell Freeman

Dragon Warrior by Kevin Stanfield (alumni)

Cross with snakes by Cazimir Ozuruigbo

Hand punching brick wall by Isreal Dosie

Break Dancers by Alexis Montgomery

Still "Wired"

Art Club made some great progress on wire sculptures last night.

The octupus has emerged and will be completed next week.
There was also a beehive completed in one session.

We will have to revisit wire sculpture next year as everyone seems to be enjoying it!

Completely "Wired"

Sleep deprived? No. Consuming excessive amounts of caffeine? No.

Well, maybe, but that's not the point.

Art Club has been twisting, crimping, snipping, bending and pulling armature wire. We have been working on wire sculptures!

Greg Hatchett completed a boom box this week. It will go nicely with the break dancers Alexis Montgomery has been working on. We have a secret sculpture: an octopus I have been hearing about, but have not yet seen. There are some other great projects in progress, but we will have to wait to see what the club comes up with in the end.

Our relief projects have been on hold, but they should be finished in the next week, or two. We're flexible!

Progress is a good thing.

This week in art club we added some color to our relief projects, but we are not done yet. Once these beauties are painted they will be given a wash of black oil paint that will be wiped away enhancing the depths and textures that have been built up over the last few weeks. Vegas will never be the same.

We welcomed some new students that worked on Chicago Icons. Isreal completed his interpretation of the Chicago skyline. His piece will be matted, framed and on display at Cabrini Connections next week.

Next week we will begin a new project. Wire sculpture using contour lines only. Oh what fun!

Cabrini Connections Art Club - back in action

Cabrini Connections Art Club is back in action. We have been meeting throughout the summer, but last night was our first meeting during the fall tutoring session. We welcomed two new students to the club and enjoyed the company of returning members, Gregory Hatchett and Alexis Montgomery.

Gregory and Alexis made great progress on projects started over the summer. They have almost completed relief projects, based on maps of Las Vegas and Brazil. We enlarged sections of the maps on plywood panels and attached various objects to the panels to create texture and value. We have the boards primed and ready for painting next week. We will post photos once they are completed.

Our new members got their hands dirty working on a popular project, Chicago Icons. We worked with images of scupltures in Millennium Park: The Bean and Crown Fountain. We transferred the images using charcoal and pencil and outlined them with black markers giving a fabulous graphic quality. We began coloring the images with water soluble colored pencils and added a little water. Photos to come of the finished pieces.

The Art Club was also joined by volunteers from Chicago Cares, which help our teens create their work each week. We could not do so much without them. Including the two faux stained glass pieces completed this summer by Gregory Hatchett and De'Sean Hale. Gregory worked on his graffiti style and De'Sean explored the work of Piet Mondrian while creating these gorgeous pieces.

Art Therapy

This month the Cabrini Connections Art Club is proud to welcome John Wai Li.

John is an art therapist from the University of London, who is working with the students over four sessions in the month of May. John describes Art Therapy as a form of therapy that uses art media as its primary mode of communication. He is guiding the students through sessions that center around a different theme each week. "My overall aim is to enable the students to reflect on their feelings and grow on a personal level through the exploration of the art materials in a safe and facilitating environment" says John.

During sessions, John pays special attention to how the students interact with one another and with the art materials.

When the sessions are over, John will give a presentation about his and the students' experiences. The art work, which John considers to be a visual representation of thoughts and feelings, may be displayed at Goldsmiths College, London, with the consent of the students.

Before coming to work with us, John was originally trained as a fine artist. After art school he taught at a local college, where he found himself working closely with a student with autism. "I could see that the art process was having some kind of positive effect on him, but as a teacher my remit and boundaries only went so far. It was from this experience I researched the subject and found out about art therapy."

Since earning his MA, John works as a therapist in group and one-on-one sessions in England. His time at Cabrini Connections has been a cultural learning experience both for John and the students. He says, "I've been to the US a few times, I like it here, the American people are very friendly and less reserved than the British. I like the mentality of being talkative, perhaps that is why therapy is so successful here." But working in the US does present challenges. He explains that when patients react to differences, be they racial, cultural or other, they can feel a multitude of complex emotions. Bridging these differences is difficult, especially in this case because time is so limited, so he has adapted his approach from a psychodynamic model into a more theme based directive model. But he makes the point that the adolescents he works with in Cabrini are not so different from those at home, because they share universal adolescent issues, such as finding out about their own identity in the world and separation anxiety.

The students are curious about John's culture, but as he states, "the most important thing is that we build a good relationship so that the therapy group can be successful."

We do hope that it has been a success both for John and the students, and we look forward learning more about their experiences together.