"Mapping Territories: The Art of Exile in Pilsen - Chicago" Exhibition

Media Contact:
Natasha Ritsma
Director
Schingoethe Center of Aurora University
nritsma@aurora.edu
630-844-6157

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 6, 2025

The Schingoethe Center of Aurora University presents “Mapping Territories: The Art of Exile in Pilsen-Chicago,” an exhibition featuring 59 works created by printmakers in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood over the last century.

Image: Rene Arceo, Monarca cielo arriba/Monarch Sky Above, 2003

Aurora, Ill. – The Schingoethe Center of Aurora University presents “Mapping Territories: The Art of Exile in Pilsen-Chicago,” an original exhibition organized by Rene Arceo, Chicago-based artist, educator and curator. This exhibition will showcase the work of 32 printmakers demonstrating the social and political struggles migrants face and the resilient cultural neighborhood they created.

“Mapping Territories” is a collective art exhibition showcasing diverse printmaking techniques including linocuts, etching, woodcuts, serigraphs and dry point. The artists featured in “Mapping Territories” were selected because of their extraordinary ability to share stories, trace histories, assert presence, challenge boundaries and reveal overlooked narratives. Exhibition organizer and artist Rene Arceo states “these prints provide an opportunity to visualize the evidence of collective struggles, stories of migration and the building of community away from home. All this resonates with current spirited struggles of Mexican and other Latino communities in the Chicagoland.”

Presenting a Chicago-based print exhibition now underscores the city’s continued role as an innovator in printmaking, where diverse artistic communities are expanding the medium’s formal and conceptual boundaries. The exhibition is divided into three main sections: “The Journey,” “Inhabit the City” and “Memory, Identity, Disjunction.” It also offers a timely cultural platform that reflects and responds to current social conditions, demonstrating how print as a democratic form can amplify urgent contemporary narratives. This exhibition stands as an invitation to explore, question and ultimately remap our notions of territory and belonging.

The Schingoethe Center will host an opening reception for “Mapping Territories” on Tuesday, Jan. 13, from 5–7 p.m., featuring micro talks by several exhibiting artists, refreshments and music.

Additional events for “Mapping Territories” include Family Day on Saturday, April 11, from 10 a.m.–1 p.m., featuring crafts, prizes, games and print making demonstrations. The museum will also host multiple gallery programs throughout the spring. Please visit aurora.edu/museum for updates and event details.

The Schingoethe Center of Aurora University is located inside of the Hill Welcome Center at 1315 Prairie St., in Aurora, Ill. The exhibition can be viewed Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m.–5 p.m. and Tuesday from 10 a.m.–7 p.m. The museum will also be open on Saturday, April 11, from 10 a.m.–1 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public. For more information, visit aurora.edu/museum.

Artists included in “Mapping Territories”: José Antonio Aguirre, José A. Andreu, René H. Arceo, Carlos Barberena, Arturo Barrera, Mario E. Castillo, Mizraim Cárdenas, Sam Coronado, Carlos Cortéz, Nicolás De Jesús, Luis De la Torre, Celeste De Luna, Amy Diaz-Infante, Héctor Duarte, Sandra C. Fernández, Roberto Ferreyra, Juan R. Fuentes, Esperanza Gama, Sal García, Marianna Garibay, Salvador Jiménez-Flores, Fulgencio Lazo, Juan Pablo Luna, Poli Marichal, Dolores Mercado, Oscar Moya, Eufemio Pulido, Ramiro Rodríguez, Elvia S. Rodríguez-Ochoa, Marianne Sadowski, Eva Solíz, and Rubén Trejo

Images for this press release can be found here.