What is our misson?

Latinx Murals of Pilsen is a digital toolkit for exploring public art in the Pilsen neighborhood on the Near West Side of Chicago. It features high quality contemporary and historical images, interviews with artists, and interactive features to bring users closer to the murals. Whether they are casual visitors or serious researchers, our goal is to deepen users’ understandings of Latinx muralism in Chicago.

How did this project start?

Latinx Murals of Pilsen began as a collaboration between Professor Jason Ruiz and the Historic and Urban Environments (HUE) Lab at the University of Notre Dame, co-led by Selena Anders and Jennifer Parker. This project has received funding from the Office of Research at Notre Dame and the Whiting Foundation.

Pilsen has changed considerably since we began this project and we are concerned that gentrification is altering who gets to live and work in the neighborhood. However, we continue to celebrate the resilience of the Pilsen community and firmly believe that street art is an important indicator of neighborhood change.

Why Pilsen?

Because of a variety of social and economic factors, including gentrification, Pilsen is no longer the most demongraphically Latinx area of Chicagoland. However, in many ways, Pilsen is the spiritual home of Latinx Chicago and one of the neighborhoods most closely associated with Latinx art, food, faith, and culture. We are drawn to the neighborhood’s vibrant expression of Latinidad, but also encourage users of this site to explore the rest of the city from a Latinx point of view.

Why Do You Use the Word “Latinx”?

As a general rule, we use the term “Latinx” as a nod to gender inclusivity. However, we do not correct artists or volunteers when they use variations such as “Latino,” “Latina,” “Latin,” or “Latin American.” We do not aim to solve the ongoing debates around nomenclature.

How do we choose the artists and murals?

We selected artists and murals to be represented on this site mostly through word of mouth and our own observations. We strive to represent an eclectic mix of murals, from some of the orignals to new works. As the streets of Pilsen are ever-changing, we understand that no project can capture every work of art. Therefore, we hope that this project is a good representation of the types of murals one can see in Pilsen. Our goal is to be illusttrative, not comprehensive.

Are the Pilsen murals intrinsicaly Latinx?

We don’t think so. Artists from a wide variety of backgrounds have worked in Pilsen. The 16th Street Corridor, for example, is a long stretch of murals by artists from all over the world. Even so, we have chosen to highlight artists who are themselves Latinx or whose work represents the Latinx experience. As you can hear or read in our interview with Jeff Zimmerman, non-Latinx artists have made important contributions to the murals of Pilsen. Murals themselves do not have an ethnicity, but we do believe that they can be expressions of culture and identity.

What about graffiti and public art?

The lines between graffiti and murals can be blurry. Several of the artists highlighted in these pages got their starts as graffiti artists. In making choices of which murals to include in this project, we have tended to select large-scale works that were commissioned or permitted by the owners of the walls that they adorn. However, we believe that works of graffiti can also be valid and important cultural expressions. Please see a curated collection of graffiti images on the “image collections” page.

Does this project make any money off of the murals?

Absolutely not. We are a privately-funded educational endeavor and will never commercialize the murals. Our mission includes sharing information about the murals and their creators that is free to all.

Can you give me a walking tour?

Unfortunately, we can’t. We can, however, recommend one of our community partners, Pilsen Public Art Tours, which offers excellent tours for a modest fee.

How do I cite this project?

Page or Article Author (if listed), “Page Name.” Latinx Murals of Pilsen, URL, Date Accessed.

What if I find a mistake?

If you find a problem or mistake on this site please contact jason.ruiz@nd.edu. We are a collaborative project and rely on feedback.

How do I recommend content?

Feel free to send us an email if you have information on a mural that’s not represented on this site. You can email latinx.murals@gmail.com. If you are a muralist, we would love to speak with you.

I’m a student at Notre Dame, how do I get involved in this project?

We are always looking for volunteers. Please get in touch!