Chicago Street Art (5 photos)

[lovelife65]

Just returned from a trip back to Indiana to see my mom. Flew into Chicago so took advantage of some of its fantastic street art (um, graffiti). I enjoy it, as I personally feel it adds color, vibrance, beauty and character to the often struggling inner city neighborhoods.. In this case, the West and South sides of Chicago.

I took quite a few street photos, here is a handful of the street art shots. These are some of the milder ones

Thanks for peeking

#1



#2



#3



#4



#5

[Shadowman]

Nice series, very vibrant, #3 stands out the most as it adds art to environment so smoothly.

[lovelife65]

Thank you John.
There's so much cool graffiti in Chicago. I think I took 100 photos ... very fantastic stuff

Nice series, very vibrant, #3 stands out the most as it adds art to environment so smoothly.

[rpcrowe]

There is a big plus side to that type of street art. The area below the San Diego side of the San Diego to Coronado Bridge was plagued with gang graffiti which looked terrible and also was the rationale for many gang fights... One gang over writing another gang's graffiti emblem.

The Hispanic Community and the San Diego City Fathers made the area beneath the bridge into a park called, Chicano Park, and invited Hispanic artists to decorate the bridge columns with Hispanic related street art. The result was "Chicano Park" with no more gang graffiti marring the columns.

https://www.google.com/search?q=chic...=2560&bih=1334

What about the other (Coronado) side of the Bridge. It's a night and day difference. San Diego side is Barrio Logan, one of the poorest areas of San Diego. The other side is the City of Coronado which has the one of highest average annual income levels in California

[lovelife65]

Thank you for your comments. Yes, I do believe even paying for the art to be done is a good idea. It can bring more pride and a sense of culture and a voice into a neighborhood. It turns ugly underpasses into beautiful works of interesting art.
And as you say, it can discourage tagging and gangs competing.
I love the link you sent. Fantastic
I captured some really neat stuff in Chicago, still going thru it.
Los Angeles is another city with good stuff.

Thank you for sharing.

There is a big plus side to that type of street art. The area below the San Diego side of the San Diego to Coronado Bridge was plagued with gang graffiti which looked terrible and also was the rationale for many gang fights... One gang over writing another gang's graffiti emblem.

The Hispanic Community and the San Diego City Fathers made the area beneath the bridge into a park called, Chicano Park, and invited Hispanic artists to decorate the bridge columns with Hispanic related street art. The result was "Chicano Park" with no more gang graffiti marring the columns.

https://www.google.com/search?q=chic...=2560&bih=1334

What about the other (Coronado) side of the Bridge. It's a night and day difference. San Diego side is Barrio Logan, one of the poorest areas of San Diego. The other side is the City of Coronado which has the one of highest average annual income levels in California

[rpcrowe]

There were some culturally unaware non-Hispanics who looking at one of the signs that read "Varrio Si! Yonkes No!" were insulted thinking that "Yonkes" meant "Yankees". Actually, "Yonkes" referred to the junk yards that were the prevailing feature of this neighborhood before it became Chicano Park.

[george013]

Nice pictures. I like streetart since it's a way individuals are influencing the environment. In a different way as city planners do.
For me 2 and 3 are the best. They contain more of the environment.

Richard,
I'm a "culturally unaware non-Hispanics" and know now what "jonkes" mean. But what does "varrio" mean?


George

[rpcrowe]

George...

Basically Varrio is a take off of the Spanish Barrio, which means Neighborhood. In Spanish pronunciation, especially in Chicano dialect; the "B" is pronounced as "V".

Therefore "Varrio si! Yonkes no!" or yes to the neighborhood and no to junkyards was the rallying slogan in the campaign to eliminate the urban decay of junkyard and upgrade the neighborhood.

Very unfortunately, it take a lot more than a coat of paint and some pretty pictures to turn a neighborhood around...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RDH3C81xrek

BTW: I don't shoot in that area and no longer even drive through it. The San Diego police on patrol will not use the park restroom at night unless they have a backup. It is a shame because thirty years ago, while there were still junkyards flourishing there, the neighborhood was actually pretty safe and my favorite Mexican restaurant was located beneath the bridge.

[lovelife65]

Thanks for comments Richard and George.
Not yet solidified my approach yet, as I do like to include more of the scene, yet also see where it's good to focus on the details of the art. Still learning