These Americas, HCUAP Artist Talk

Learn about the artistic trajectory of three visiting artists in the HCUAP Visiting Artists in Residence Program whose work differently reflects on the experience of the Americas as a plural place with vibrant histories. With different backgrounds in style writing, printmaking, graphic design and journalism, all three visiting artists do high impact work connected to communities in the public realm. Tomas Ives, from Santiago Chile, Ish Muhammad of Indiana and New York, and Gloria “Gloe” Talamantes, a first-generation Mexican-American living in Chicago.

Hemispheric Conversations: Urban Art Project (HCUAP, pronounced, “hiccup”) seeks to create platforms for conversation and education about urban art production (graffiti, street art and muralism, among other genres) to explore aesthetic and historical connections between post-industrial cities. Beginning in 2016 they have sustained programming that focused on the intercultural exchange between the post-industrial cities like Pittsburgh, Chicago, Mexico and León Guanajuato Mexico.

• Doors open at 5 p.m.

Ish Muhammad is a self-taught artist. Born in New York City, Ish has called Indiana home for over four decades. Muhammad’s work is post-graffiti abstract expressionism and his works have been exhibited nationally and internationally in galleries, museums, murals and site-specific installations. He maintains residency at the Lovelace House in Gary, Indiana and a satellite studio in Hammond, Indiana. Muhammad earned his bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Purdue University.

Gloria “Gloe” Talamantes is a first-generation Mexican-American mixed media artist, youth worker, graffiti writer and cultural worker. Her art consists of mural painting, documenting, curating and organizing to promote community building and self-awareness through healing-centered practices. She has self-funded murals across Chicago through the Brown Wall Project, a project created in response to graffiti erasure in Chicago. Talamantes has produced public art programming, international mural residencies and exchanges for artists who intentionally work on civic and justice initiatives through arts integration. She has created murals, community engagement projects, public speaking engagements and workshops for various institutions and non-profit organization across the country. Talamantes is a former artist in residence with the Museum of Contemporary Art’s School Partnership for Art and Civic Engagement (SPACE) and is a program director at the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council. She believes that art is a universal language that can be used to learn, grow and heal.

Tomas Ives is a Santiago, Chile based muralist, printmaker, community organizer and graphic designer. He says of his work: “I create through illustration, motion graphics, brand design, mural art and printmaking. My inspiration comes from popular art and stories, struggles and movements that push us to transform the world around us. For me, every project begins with people—listening, connecting and understanding—so that the result carries identity, meaning and a spark of change.” He has given talks in Santiago, Berlin and Pittsburgh and painted murals all over the world.