En Las Tablas: Sock Luck!

Potluck: Chicago went to En Las Tablas yesterday to make sock puppets with the kids. It was a lot of fun. I wasn't able to go to En Las Tablas last time since we had to split up so I was really excited to get another chance. We brought in new and fairly worn socks and the kids were able to pick out the ones they wanted...one for the body and one for the mouth. The socks where suppose to be avatars of themselves. I was in charge of sewing the mouth and body together. Then they went to another station to have hair and eyes sewn on. Afterwards they were able to decorate the puppets. We then interviewed them with their puppet and asked them questions like "What super power do you bring to Chicago?"

En Las Tablas Performing Arts Center is an amazing place where kids can take dance classes. They offer classes to residents of Hermosa, West Logan Square, and West Humboldt Park. The classes are inexpensive and no child is turned away if a parent can't pay. Where these kids live, there isn't anything else like En Las Tablas for them. I took dance classes as a child for 7 years and it gave me confidence in myself. I could see these kids really felt safe at En Las Tablas and they were all so outgoing!

It made me think about how I could use art to benefit others and not just myself. I am so thankful I have gotten involved in Potluck: Chicago. Before this residency I was very confused about what I would do with my artwork. Now I am realizing there are so many possibilities and my art doesn't always have to be visual installations, it can be more than that, like En Las Tablas. Right now, I'm not sure what I'm going to be doing in the future but I know I will figure it out as long as I keep working at what I love, farming, artwork, and cooking. I will find a way to bring the three together.

This is Alejandra. She wanted her puppet to have glasses just like herself so she needed three buttons on top of each other. The first button was the frame of the glasses, the next one was her eyes, and the third was the glass from her glasses...very creative idea! David quickly realized he could not do this so he asked me to take over. Woo...it took a lot of thinking and help from parents to figure this one out but I did it and she loved it.

Here is Meg with a puppet she made herself. He was so cute!

A puppet Helen made that I fell in love with so I kept on wearing him. He's so adorable.

Johnny wanted a picture of his Angry Bird Johnny puppet. :0 ) He really liked Angry Bird as you can see from his sweater...so I had to look them up when I got home. It looks like the Angry Birds are constantly trying to get their eggs back from the hungry pigs. Here is a little video.

Potluck: Chicago Day 3

Two main things happened today with Critical Encounters.

Tonight, half of the group went to En Las Tablas Performing Arts Community Center "...a not for profit community arts organization established in 2006 for the purpose of offering performing arts training to residents in the areas of Hermosa, West Logan Square and West Humboldt Park in Chicago, Illinois." Due to the fact that the space was small and would already have 5 to 6 family's there, we had to split up the group. I was one who stayed back at Columbia. In the beginning of our day we had to come up with a game that could be played with the families that would stimulate the children and the adults and help bridge the gap between the younger generations and the older ones. This was a challenge for me because I do not know much about children and haven't spent anytime with them since I babysat a 2 year old 9 years ago. I helped where I could. I am not sure how the event went and what game they ended up choosing to play but I will find out tomorrow.

The ones who stayed back had a potluck (there was a potluck at En Las Tablas as well) and I made Vegan Chili! Here is the recipe.

1 medium zucchini
1 medium green pepper
1 medium red pepper
4 garlic cloves
2 medium yellow onions
4 cans 15oz stewed tomatoes (italian style seasoning)
1 can pinto beans drained and rinsed
2 cans black black beans drained and rinsed
4 Tablespoons chili powder
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup cilantro (although, emily, since you don't like cilantro, maybe some parsley would be good instead!)

-chop vegetables, saute in olive oil till soft

-add the 4 cans of stewed tomatoes into the mixture of sauted vegetables. Make sure to break up the tomatoes before putting them in, also, take out any hard stems.

-put the rest of the ingredients into the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

After we ate we spoke about what our group will be doing next once Ali and Tim are gone. We actually have funds to create something! Ali and Tim will be back in February and we should have a well thought out idea of what we want to do. For now we will share our thoughts through a private blog and keep meeting to share ideas.

I am going to be honest. I am very intimidated and I thought I was the only one, but after talking to others I found out I am not alone. The work I have been creating didn't have any sort of deadline...I could walk away from it for 10 years if I wanted. I am constantly switching from wanting to change some of the issues in the world and wanting to crawl back to my home and pretend I don't care. This is an amazing opportunity to learn about myself and others and I can't back out or I will only feel regret.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day!

Potluck: Chicago

I want to talk about the Critical Encounters: Rights, Radical, and Revolutions Artist Residency I am participating in from November 15th to the 18th.

It started with Columbia College inviting Motiroti to be their artist in residence for Critical Encounters. "Motiroti is an award-winning arts organization based in London UK. Its content is migration; its form is art. It works across artforms and boundaries, online and in live places, putting participation at the heart of its practice" They created Potluck: Chicago. Chicago is very diverse yet very segregated and the idea is that food can bring people together.

Myself and 21 others (very passionate people!) filled out an application to be a part of Potluck: Chicago by answering questions about our community. Here is a link to a video where I was asked a few of the questions asked in the application. I was a bit nervous as you can tell.

After I spend each day with Critical Encounters I will blog about what we did that day. Here is a rundown of what we will be doing each day and I would really love if you would participate with us on Wednesday, November 16th for a stone soup!

We will be visiting the Jane Addams Hull House Museum on November 15th and meet with "members of the Department of African American Studies, Asian American Studies, and Latin America Latino Studies at UIC and immigration activist from around the city will join us."

On Wednesday, November 16th, 6-9pm, we will have a Stone soup at Columbia College Chicago, 1104 S. Wabash, Conaway Center Chicago, IL 60605 where everyone is welcome to come and bring a vegetable for the soup or something else like a memory, friend, music...and when you come in we will text it across a screen to let everyone know you are here and what you have brought. I thought this was a really wonderful idea because so often I go to events or parties and feel that I am not welcomed but this way everyone will know they are important. The soup will be vegan based so no worries if you are vegan.

Thursday we will visit En Las Tablas Performing Arts "a community dedicated to the exploration of dance and Latino heritage."

And Friday, November 18th we will visit Dorchester Project and meet Theaster Gates.

I am so excited to be a part of this. I would like to bring what I learn from this into my art. My artwork is about food and the many issues involved with food production...but I have hardly touched the human aspect of food and how it can bring us together. I have wondered about making artwork that involves participation from others and this a great start to see what Motiroti does and learn from Potluck: Chicago.

I can't wait to be a part of this and share my experience.