Wednesday, November 9, 2011

CTA Adopt-A-Station: 18th Street Station / Pilsen [Untitled]



Untitled
By Francisco Mendoza; Gallery 37 students and the Mexican Museum of National Art..
1998 / Painted wall murals..
Location: CTA Station: 18th Street [Pilsen]
Adopt-A-Station Program..

From the CTA website..
Covering the steel panels of the station wall, several murals symbolize and tell stories about the neighborhood that the 18th station serves. Each of the colorful murals illustrates a different story of rich Mexican heritage while also depicting many important cultural icons in Mexican history.

I found some interesting information on these murals, in the Chicago Reader website, in an article by Brenna Ehrlich, "The Murals at the 18th Street El Stop"..Here's an excerpt..
In 1993 the CTA, with the city-run youth art program Gallery 37 and the Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum (now the National Museum of Mexican Art), commissioned art teacher Francisco Mendoza to beautify the station. Mendoza enlisted his students at Gallery 18, a satellite program of Gallery 37, along with anyone else in the neighborhood who could paint. “It was like having a jazz session,” he says. “Artists would come up and say, ‘I can paint, I have an idea,’ and I would give them the colors they needed.”









Stairways..

paintings on the steps..

paintings on the steps..

paintings on the steps..





RELATED LINKS..
CTA Public Art..

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