Urban Art Chicago: A Guide to Community Murals, Mosaics, and Sculptures

By Olivia Gude

Chicago, so often described as a "city of neighborhoods," is the place aptly associated with the beginnings of neighborhood public art. Sparked by the grassroots political and cultural movements of the 1960s, community art has come to portray an America different from the usual signs of commerce-concerned instead with social justice, the appreciation of diverse cultures, and the traditional values of family, neighborhood, and spirituality. Urban Art Chicago is a portable guide to the most visually stimulating and historically significant community public art projects in Chicago. It includes 130 full-color illustrations of these artworks, with concise descriptions, historical background, and locations. Produced in cooperation with the Chicago Public Art Group, Urban Art Chicago effectively conveys the vibrancy of community public art (now a national phenomenon) and how it alters the relationship of artist to audience. "The audiences become the artists as they participate in the conception and making of the work," Gude and Huebner write. "The artists are bonded to the community by the process of listening and through participating in the life of a place. The content of the work and the stories of its making create a work which is 'owned' by the community. As someone once said at a public art hearing, 'We want one of those murals that are about us.'"

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1566632846
• ISBN13: 9781566632843
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Ivan R. Dee
• Length: 255 Pages
• Weight: 1.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 5.9" x 1.1" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Art of, for, and by the people

"Urban Art Chicago: A Guide to Community Murals, Mosaics, and Sculptures," is both an excellent reference work and a beautiful art book. This volume, by Olivia Gude and Jeff Huebner, is a tribute to the neighborhood public art of the city of Chicago.The book contains a short, but fascinating, history of the mural movement in Chicago. According to the authors, this artistic outpouring began in 1967, when 20 artists began work on the "Wall of Respect," a pictorial tribute to African-American culture. The book is divided up by neighborhoods. Each section contains a street map, so you can actually use the book to find the murals that have been photographed. 125 murals are pictured in the book. These works of art span many themes and styles. Each photograph is accompanied by essential information about the mural. Also adding to the book's usefulness is a bibliography and a collection of capsule biographies of major artists in the mural movement.It's hard to pick out just a few representative works from this magnificent collection. But my favorites include the following: William Walker's "Childhood Is Without Prejudice," with its interlocking faces of many races; Christopher Tavares Silva's "Soaring Toward Excellence," a symbolic, energetic celebration of books and education; Aurelio Diaz' "Latino Youth, Inc." mural, with its stunning pre-Columbian imagery; and Jeff Zimmerman's "Paid Programming," a visual satire in which the United States flag is morphed into a bar-code. But these are just a few of the eye-catching works in this book. Explore "Urban Art Chicago," and feel the rhythms of the people of a great city.

A truly outstanding presentation!

Urban Art Chicago covers community murals, mosaics and sculptures in Chicago and is a recommended pick for any collection which would include urban or regional American public pieces. Maps and background information accompanies color photos of the works and insights on their producers. An outstanding presentation.

Chicago Resource for teachers

Urban Art Chicago is a beautifully produced guide to many of Chicago's murals and would be an excellent gift for any school teacher. It begins with a history of the mural movement in Chicago and includes well detailed maps, guides to the artists and communities who have created murals in Chicago, and excellently reproduced photographs of the murals themselves. It also provides a great way to introduce Chicago cultural studies, geography, history, language, folk culture, multi-cultural studies, and art to students.