Event to unveil online showcase of Chicago’s Latino art

Two new web-based projects showcasing past and present Latino art in Chicago will be introduced during a special presentation Thursday by the Inter-University Program for Latino Research (IUPLR), a national Latino research consortium based at UIC.

The event includes a reception from 5 to 7 p.m. at the National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th St.

The projects featured in the Chicago Latino ArTchive and Latino Art Now! Chicago Virtual Gallery will serve as research and educational tools for a variety of users.

The Chicago Latino ArTchive is an online catalog of images and information on Latino artists who have worked in Chicago since the early 20th century. In addition to image galleries, biographies, artists’ statements and related website links, users can sort information by artist name, country of origin, gender, decade, art form or theme.

The Chicago Latino ArTchive was backed by a $40,000 grant from the Chicago Community Trust.

The Latino Art Now! Chicago Virtual Gallery, a collaborative project between IUPLR and the Smithsonian Latino Center, features 40 artworks by 35 Latino artists whose careers are linked to Chicago. The virtual gallery explores artistic issues, contexts, meanings, visuals and historical underpinnings, in addition to artists’ engagement with identity, community, public art and the urban space. As a resource for high school teachers, the site’s bilingual toolkit features lesson plans that help to incorporate different artwork and artists’ experiences into curricula.

Development of the Chicago Virtual Gallery was supported by a $20,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

Founded in 1983, IUPLR aims to promote policy-focused research and advance the Latino intellectual presence in the U.S.

For more information, call (312) 413-3892.