Current Programs

Day in the Life | fall 2009/spring 2010
"A Day in The Life" is a multi-media performance about Pilsen area youth as they journey through an urban landscape juggling love, artistic choices, and the subconscious rhythms of everyday life. Participants engage in all aspects of performance including writing, acting, directing, set design, and music composition.

Teenage Wasteland | fall 2009/spring 2010
"Teenage Wasteland" is a eco-friendly art program that teaches teens methods of creating "green" art and also how to create public awareness about "green-living".The teens will learn to work as professional artists as they work with used materials to create art that will inspire and educate the community on ways of helping safeguard the environment.

Yollo Open Studio at Farragut Career Academy | fall 2009/spring 2010
Yollo Open Studio is a class that provides artistic options for students looking to explore alternative mediums. Students will learn how to work with different materials, groups and individually to make art and build their portfolio.

Fundamentals of Art | school year 2008/2009
Yollocalli is returning back to the basics! Every Mondays from 4:00pm-7:00pm, teens will learn the fundamentals of art. From beginning Drawing, Still Life Painting, to Figure Painting, students will build their skills in the basics of art. With the guidance of teaching artist Salvador Jimenez, teens will learn about the “Art of still life painting”, and the importance of line, shape, and tone in drawing.

 

Past Programs


Declaration of Immigration Mural | summer 2009 view class images
The Declaration of Immigration mural class partnered young artists with teaching artist Salvador Jimenez to conceptualize and create a 2 story hight-x30ft wide mural on the Southwest exterior wall of the Yollocalli/Radio Arte shared building.  The mural is a visual dedication to all immigrants and allies who have marched hundreds of thousands of miles to advocate for fair legislation for immigrants and who have stood strong in the face of anti-immigrant rhetoric. Declaration of Immigration looked at some of the historic and current issues affecting immigrant communities and serve as a reminder that the United States of America was founded on emigration and settlement.


House on 18th Street | summer 2009 view class images
The "House on 18th Street" project offered teens the opportunity to work as professional artists as they discussed the book "The House on Mango Street", and created visual art that focused on their own community and lives. Teens learned drawing, digital photo, silk screening and mixed media, and created large scale mixed media art for their community.


BeTween: Drawing and Mixed Media | summer 2009 view class images
Young artists, ages 10-14, learned the basics of drawing and also explored contemporary practices of drawing and mixed media art making. Youth gained skills in pen/ink drawing, collage, comic making, painting, and more.


Visual Airwaves: Radio Arte Mural | fall 2008/spring 2009 view class images
“Visual Airwaves: Radio Arte Mural” is a mural making class that combines traditional painting and contemporary painting techniques to create a dynamic and highly creative mural for the walls of Radio Arte, a youth initiative of the National Museum of Mexican Art. Teens will learn the history and tradition of mural making and learn about the history of Latino Radio, and work as a team to create a mural that will speak to the youth, the community and their culture.

Youth Curators/Youth Gallery | fall 2008/spring 2009 view class images
“Youth Curators / Youth Gallery” offers teens the opportunity to act as curators and arts administrators, as they work together to conceive, organize, design and install an exhibition that will speak for them and their community. The program will allow teens to be leaders for their peer artists, offering them a place and opportunity to present their art for the community. These young curators will set an example that will encourage other teens to develop and create more proposals for future exhibitions. “Youth Curators /Youth Gallery” will be the stepping stone for teens to build their own gallery that will represent their art. Check out their blog: http://youthcurators.blogspot.com/.

Yollo Open Studio at Piotrowski Park | fall 2008/spring 2009 view class images
“Yollo Open Studio” is a multimedia, self directed art class. Through artistic exploration, instruction and dialogue, teens will be provided with adequate space, art materials and given the opportunity to develop creative works of art. Yollo Open Studio is run as a college level studio class, giving the teens the opportunity to explore their personal interests and creating them into visual works.

Calaveras & Costumes – Halloween vs Día de los Muertos | fall 2008 view class images
A group of students learned the history of Día de los Muertos and Halloween and created a Haunted House and traditional alter for the community, along with teaching artists, Luis Tubens and Yamil Rodriguez. The students wanted to display the differences between the two celebrations. They ended the class with a three day performance and gallery show for the public.

St. Anthony Hospital Mural class | summer/fall 2008 view class images
This mural painting class gave the students the opportunity to plan, develop and complete a new mural for the walls of St. Anthony Hospital. With the guidance of artist Salvador Jimenez, teens created a beautiful mixed media mural for the 6th floor of the hospital.

Latino Customs - Sneaker Painting | fall 2008 view class images
Teen artists learned how to custom paint their own sneakers with a Latino vibe, during Latino Heritage Month. Using their talent and creativity, teens designed their sneakers in honor of the Latino culture. The final shoes were displayed at the Nike headquarters downtown. Sneakers were provided by Nike and was instructed by Miguel Aguilar.

What's going on | summer 2008 view class images
Youth ages 10-12 learned drawing, painting, sculpture, digital photography, and much more as they discussed issues of immigration and current events.  From Statue of Liberty masks to paintings about caution signs posted at the USA/Mexico boarder, the young artists displayed their talent and comments on immigration issues. 

ASM, Quinceañera Transformara| summer 2008 view class images
"Quinceañera Transformara" was a multi-media course that examined and reinvented the tradition and ritual of the quinceañera. Young artists learned a variety of art making (paper-mache, textiles, sewing, photography, installation, etc.) and performance techniques, and worked together to create their own interpretation of a quinceañera.

ASM, Paint it Back - Mural class at Barrett Park | summer 2008 view class images
"Paint it Back" was a mural making class that combined traditional painting and spray painting to create a dynamic and highy creative mural for the walls of Barrett Park. Teens leared the history and tradition of mural making and graffiti, and worked as a team to create a mural that speaks to the youth, the community and their culture.

Pursuit of Happiness - Immigration Zine | summer 2008 view class images
Young artists throughout Chicago submitted work to be in our collective zine (a self published magazine). Through drawing, computer generated imagery, short stories, painting, poetry and photography, young artists explored issues and ideas concerning immigration and its impact on society, communities and families. Selected artwork and writings were included in our first volume of "the Pursuit of Happiness" issued July 4th, 2008, during the opening reception of the National Museum of Mexican Art's "Declaration of Immigration" show. Continuing volumes will be issued every 6 months. To be a part of the next issue, please call 312-455-9652 ext.204.

Roche Project at Big Picture High School | spring 2008 view class images
 In this workshop students used mix media painting techniques to create images inspired by the works of Arnaldo Roche. Students studied the history and format of Expressionism and Neo-Expressionism, art movements popular in the United States and Europe in the 1970's, a style that Roche was heavily influenced by while a student at The Art Institute of Chicago . Students learned the fundamentals of painting and created personal interpretations of Contemporary Neo-Expressionistic paintings. This class was created through a collaboration with the Chicago Cultural Center and the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance.

ASM, Zoom into Photography/Drop Dead Art | fall 2007/spring 2008 view class images
This multi-media program was created for teens interested in the exploration of photography and sculpture object making. Teens created personal 3-D works transforming and challenging conventional understandings of photography and sculpture. Teens presented their final art objects or art installations at Yollocalli Arts Reach. The goal was to introduce and educate the advanced apprentices to an artistic merge of contemporary sculpture and photography. In the Spring 2008, teens used what they learned from the previous class to create ofrendas that will be proposals to be in the 2008 Day of the Dead show at the National Museum of Mexican Art.

ASM, Progression | fall 2007/spring 2008 view class images
PROGRESSION: Public Mural at The Rauner Family YMCA:
Continuing Yollocalli's collaboration with the Rauner Family YMCA, young artists work with artists Ricardo Santos and Salvador Jimenez in the creation of a new mural for the walls of the YMCA. Teens work together to create a mixed media, interactive mural that defines the mission of the YMCA. An exhibition at the end of the Fall Session was held at the National Museum of Mexican Art, and displayed the process and the beginning stages of the making of the mural. The final mural was presented to the public at the Rauner Family YMCA at the end of the Spring session.

Aloud - En voz alta | winter/spring 2008 view class images
Aloud - En voz alta, Poetry and Spoken Word
Young artists came together to write and perform important topics and issues related to youth. Students met three days a week and learned the art of poetry and spoken word. Students learned the work of Carlos Andres Gomez , the Taco Shop Poets, Samuel "Fish" Vargas, Rachel McKibbins, and Teatro Izcalli. Students wrote and rewrote, performed among peers and had critiques about their work. Led by coach Luis Tuebens, students competed in Young Chicago Author's "Louder than a Bomb" teens poetry slam.

ASM, AmaZine Mujeres | summer 2007 view class images
AmaZine Mujeres - Comics and Zines of Super Women Artists
In conjunction with the “Women Artists of Modern Mexico: Frida’s Contemporaries” and “Nauhi Olin: A Woman Beyond Her Time” exhibits at the National Museum of Mexican Art, teens were given the opportunity to create their own zines and comics of women artists. This eight week course, taught by Brenda Hernandez and Alanna Zaritz, introduced teens to the history of Women in the arts, the history of zine and comic making, the role of women in zines and comics, and the process and skill of zine and comic making. Teens researched about the lives and work of women artists and created innovative and passionate comics and zines about the lives and art of these women. An exhibition of final drawings and layouts was curated and promoted by the teens. All comics and zines were distributed free to the community to share the knowledge and awareness of these great women.

Livin' in the Hood | summer 2007 view class images
Livin' in the Hood offered teens the experience of the theater. Young actors and actresses performed a story about a day in the life of Pilsen residents. Teens merged personal stories, developed artistic concepts and learned public speaking skills. Young designers created a revolving set to add an element of authenticity to the play. Taught by Luis Tuebens and Leo Ruiz, these young artists gave all their energy and talent to produce a poetic and powerful production. Teens were able to perform and present their stories for the community at large on July 27th , 28th , and 29th.

Nettlehorst Elementary School | spring 2007 view class images
Festivals of Mexico and Latin America (90 ft. x 12 ft. acrylic on plaster) is an ambitious mural depicting festivals, celebrations and every day scenes of Mexico and Latin America, created by the National Museum of Mexican Art education department and Yollocalli Arts Reach. The mural will provide the opportunity for interactive, educational and creative skills to be developed by the students of Nettlehorst and appropriated onto the mural. It will also introduce the students to the culture and customs such as a Quinciañera, a Mother's Day in Mexico , and a traditional birthday party in a city or small pueblo in South America . Teaching Artists involved are Alejandro Medina, Gabriel Villa, Leo Ruiz and Jose Luis Gutierrez.

ASM, What is Installation Art? | spring 2007 view class images
Teens jumped into the process of installation art, second of two sessions. Taught by artists Max Reinhardt and Vanessa Sanchez, teens were introduced to the concept of installation art and were guided into making installations of their own. The young artists first learned the process of mold making and casting, creating jello molds of vases, toys and other objects. Then the teens worked diligently on final group installations. From the inside of the building to the walls of the outside of the building, teens created large installations based on: childhood memories, immigration and border crossing, language discrimination, and teen homicide in Chicago . The teens also created their own artists books and catalogues of the work they created in the class using photography, graphic design, and book making skills.

ASM, Rauner Family YMCA Mural | fall 2006/spring 2007 view class images
Continuing Yollocalli's partnership with the Rauner Family YMCA and After School Matters, young artists created a series of murals for the walls of the YMCA. Artists, Roberto Valadez and Ricardo Santos Hernandez, guided the teens as they planned, designed, and created 4 murals entitled “Honesty, Respect, Caring, Responsibility”.

Printmaking for Teens | winter 2006 view class images
Jose Guadalupe Posada and the Mexican Broadsides
This class was created through a collaboration with the Art institute of Chicago to coincide with their “Jose Guadalupe Posada and the Mexican Broadsides” exhibit. Teens were given studio classes at the Yollocalli studios to learn the process of dry point printmaking. The young artists created broadsides (a public announcement printed on paper) of their own, dealing with socio-political and popular news of their time, but taking from the style of Posada and past broadsides. In the end, the teens created a collective poster/newspaper that were distributed throughout the community. The teens works were also exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago and the National Museum of Mexican Art.

ASM, What is Installation Art? | fall 2006 view class images
Young artists dived into the making of installation art, the first of two sessions of classes. Taught by artists Maria Gaspar and Vanessa Sanchez, teens were introduced to the concept of installation art and were guided into making installations of their own. First the young artists created individual installations focusing on material, space and memory. Then the teens were divided into groups to create a larger installation in the Yollocalli building. From teen issues to women's issues to the concept of gallery art versus graffiti, the young artists used their artistic skills and minds to fill the building. The teens also created their own artists books and catalogues of the work they created in the class using photography, graphic design, and book making skills.

ASM, Rauner Family YMCA Mural | summer 2006 view class images
Inspired by the celebrated, new Rauner Family YMCA on Western Avenue and Blue Island, young artists created a mural filled with collected images of the activities and participants in the YMCA. The class, taught by artists Gabriel Villa and Ricardo Santos Hernandez, brought together many ideas and worked together to create a mural that emphasized the essence of what the YMCA means to the communities (Little Village, Pilsen, and Bridgeport). This was the first partnership between Yollocalli and the Rauner Family YMCA.

Grabado | winter 2005/spring 2006/summer 2006 view class images
Printmaking for Teens at Davis Square Park
A partnership with Chicago Park District led to three dynamic printmaking classes at Davis Square Park. Artist Juan Carlos Macias taught the basic skills and techniques of printmaking to the teens. Each course created very different and very creative final pieces. The first course combined 210 prints to create a grand mural with the intent of documenting the teens' community (the Back of the Yards). This mural was displayed along with work from the Carlos Cortez Printmaking class at the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum in the Spring of 2006. The second course was a collection of prints entitled “ Mesa , Cama, Silla (Table, Chair, Bed)”. Each teen created prints based on objects in their daily life, but with the artistic intent of creating each print as a personal detail into their lives. The last course was an effortful task for each teen as they created their own set of loteria cards and a numerous collection of creative and diverse prints.

Little Village High School Mural | winter 2005/spring 2006 view class images
Students from the newly opened Little Village Multicultural Arts High School worked with artist Robert Valadez in designing and creating a 14 feet by 90 feet mural for the theater of the school. The mural focuses on the migration of African Americans and Mexican Americans to Chicago, combining images and themes from both cultures to create a theme of unity and commonality.

Examining Stereotypes | winter 2006 view class images
Students investigated how the media and advertisement use stereotypes of African -American and Latino men, women, and children. Young artists created large-scale silk screens and mixed media posters counteracting stereotypes, targeted at people of color in contemporary media and advertising.

Carlos Cortez Printmaking | fall/winter 2005 view class images
Taller de Grabado: Homanaje a Carlos Cortez Koyokuikatl
Artists Juan Carlos Macias and Antonio Martinez led this Printmaking class in creating a portfolio of prints in the spirit and teachings of Carlos Cortez. Cortez (1923-2005) was an artist and activist – poet, graphic artist, muralist, and mentor. Printmaking was a way for his beliefs and artistry to be expressed to everyone – a way to imprint a change in all of us.

ASM, Dvorak Park Mural | summer 2005 view class images
Students worked together to create a mural that reflected the community and liveliness of Dvorak Park in the Pilsen neighborhood. The overall theme of the mural is unity. The interns worked incredibly well together and formed a bond together that is echoed within the mural. It is loaded with young peoples' imagination and compassion for the people of the neighborhood of Pilsen.