We Two Chicago - exhibit

Greetings All,

Next month I will participate in a group show with Ramona Dallum Lindsey at the Human Thread Gallery in Chicago. The focus of the exhibit will be on youth and my pieces were inspired by a poem written by Ramona. Below is the first in a series of three that I plan to exhibit in "We Two Chicago".

The line in the poem reads as; "We're regulars on the Green, Red and Pink Line, our train stops at neighborhoods like Englewood, Auburn-Gresham, Pilsen, and Little Village. We too are Chicago". The background fabric was created by creating a collage of photos that were taken by Patric McCoy of Diasporal Rhythms and myself. The photos were changed into a sepia tone to represent the black, brown, and tan youth that I see throughout these communities mention in the poem. The collage was printed onto June Tailor photo transfer color-fast fabric and pieced once a map of the Chicago Transit Authority was imposed over it.

I shall embellish this piece with buttons that were given to me from Patric's mother stash of sewing supplies and the buttons are yellow in color which represent enlightenment and the wheels on the trains. The black/white stripes represent the tracks of the trains and this is a collaboration of love because it involves on of my dearest friends/mentor and treasures from his beloved mother.

HumanThread Center for Peace, Arts & Education is a 501(c)(3) NPO that engages individuals in conversation about peace, non-violence and human dignity through art, education and discussion. The Center /Gallery offers public space and programs to the general community. A major part of our efforts also target the south and west side area Chicago youth, a population that faces poverty, violence and low educational attainment due to diachronic neglect.