Title
Creator
Diosa (Jasmina Cazacu) is a Spanish-Romanian illustrator and muralist based out of Chicago, IL. She uses surreal, dreamlike imagery to create fantastical scenes that dare her audience to challenge their perceptions, observe with wonder, and appreciate the magic that is always flourishing beneath the surface of the mundane. Although based in Chicago, Diosa has displayed in galleries and painted murals internationally. Painting is her way of interacting with the world. She plans to continue her travels and the exchange of getting to know new places while leaving a bit of herself behind in each. Instagram: @jasladiosa Website: jasminacazacu.com
DORIAN SYLVAIN
Dorian Sylvain is a painter whose color and texture explore ornamentation, pattern, and design as identifiers of cultural and historical foundations. She is a studio painter and muralist, as well as an art educator, curator, and community planner. Much of her public work addresses issues of beautification inspired by color palettes and patterns found throughout the African diaspora, particularly architecture. Core to her practice is collaborating with children and communities to elevate neighborhood aesthetics and foster shared understanding. In addition to commissioned studio and mural work, Sylvain has led public art projects over the past four decades that empower community and expose children to art making. Partnering with such organizations as the South Side Community Art Center, Hyde Park Art Center, National Museum of Mexican Art, DuSable Museum, Chicago Park District, and the Chicago Public Arts Group, she has devoted her work to building the next generation of “cultural keepers.”
Abie VASQUEZ / AB PRODUCTIONS
Abie Vasquez is a renowned Chicago street artist and mural production manager. He has managed the productions of the vast majority of murals for the Wabash Arts Corridor. He is an advocate for emerging BIPOC artists and champions gender inclusivity and equity in street art and public art in Chicago.
CHICAGO WOMXN'S SUFFRAGE TRIBUTE COMMITTEE: Meg Duguid, Michelle Duster, Catherine Mardikes, Kris Nesbitt, Lori Osborne, and Neysa Page-Lieberman
The Committee was formed in 2020 to honor the work of Illinois women for voting and other rights for women, and to ensure that the stories of women’s activism are told and not forgotten. The focus is to create public art projects that will reach wide audiences and serve to mark the work of women activists in public spaces and venues. They curated, commissioned, produced, fundraised, advocated for and published articles about this series.
Coverage
Speak Up: 623 S. Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60605
Votes for Women: 623 S. Wabash Ave, Chicago, IL 60605
Date
Date Created
Contributor
http://www.sandrasteinbrecherphotography.com/
Description
On the Wings of Change by Diosa (Jasmina Cazacu) located on the 33 E. Ida B Wells building, honors the work of Chicago suffragists in obtaining the right to vote. Through portraiture, this mural ensures that the stories of women’s activism are told and not forgotten. The Suffragists featured in this mural include:
JANE ADDAMS
MYRA BRADWELL
MARY LIVERMORE
CATHARINE WAUGH McCULLOCH
AGNES NESTOR
GRACE WILBUR TROUT
MARY FITZBUTLER WARING
IDA B. WELLS
FANNIE BARRIER WILLIAMS
FRANCES E. WILLARD
Speak Up!
Speak Up! by Dorian Sylvain honors Kamala Harris, the first woman and person of color elected Vice President in 2020--exactly 100 years after women gained the legal right to vote. To commemorate this groundbreaking achievement, the artwork takes the form of a text-based mural featuring the powerful quote, "I'm Speaking," which was said by vice presidential candidate Harris during the 2020 vice presidential debate. This mural serves as more than just a monument dedicated to Vice President Harris's historic election. It encapsulates the challenges women and people of color face in having their voices heard, as well as the progress made for greater participation in politics and policy-making. Yet, amid these advancements, the mural acknowledges that the journey toward true equality continues. By featuring this empowering phrase in a visually striking manner, Speak Up! invites viewers to celebrate the progress, face the challenges, and remain vigilant in the pursuit of a more just and inclusive society. Artist assistants: Artist Assistants: Katon Blackburn, Shiree Davis, Sergio Maciel, Marshawn Rush, and Delia West
Votes for Women
Votes for Women by Abie Vasquez / AB Productions was created to honor the labor and organizing by women who were engaged in the long struggle to gain the right to vote. This mural features the yellow rose, which was a symbol used in the suffrage movement, with the iconic phrase “Votes for Women” at the center. It stands as a vivid reminder of the suffragists' unwavering determination, and serves as a rallying cry that the work for full gender equity persists.
Subject
The suffrage murals are the first of the projects in a planned series, followed by historic markers at women’s suffrage sites, sculptural monuments and more state-wide public art recognition of female-identifying political trailblazers.The series was scheduled to be completed in September 2021, but a parking lot owner near the mural site obstructed the series by claiming it was "too political." The artists and team persevered and finished the series in its entirety two years later at a alternate site. A multitude of articles were published about the attempted censorship.
Chicago Womxn’s Suffrage Tribute Committee includes Meg Duguid, Michelle Duster, Catherine Mardikes, Kris Nesbitt, Lori Osbourne and Neysa Page-Lieberman.
Is Referenced By
Suffrage 2020 Illinois website - “Chicago’s First Public Art Project to Honor Suffrage Leaders” (posted 3/22/21)
Ms. Magazine article - "Obstructing Black Women's Voices is a Form of Race-Based Violence" by Michelle Duster (11/10/21)
New City Art article - "Women Artists Are Speaking—and Deserve Artistic Freedom and Safety" by Neysa Page-Lieberman (11/12/21)
Chicago Sun-Times article - “Artists Say Women's Suffrage Mural is Being Blocked in South Loop” by Clare Spaulding (11/15/21)
Today in Culture (Design - New City) - “Garage Owner Blocks South Loop Mural, Says It’s ‘Too Political’” by Ray Pride (11/17/21)
Suffrage 2020 Illinois website - “Chicago’s First Public Art Project to Honor Suffrage Leaders – On the Wings of Change – Makes its Debut in the Wabash Arts Corridor” (posted 11/17/21)
Interview of Dorian Sylvain for Pigment International newsletter
“Speak Up: Dorian Sylvain on Her New Murals Honoring Collective Histories”
by Briana Lynn Pickens (11/21/21)
12-minute Podcast by City Cast - conversation with host Jacoby Cochran, producer Carrie Shepard, and Dorian Sylvain (11/22/21)
Mention in Chicago Tribune article - “The best (and worst) in visual art in Chicago in 2021” by Lori Waxman (12/8/21)
NCPH History@Work Blog - “So Few Images of African American women, so
much resistance to adding more” by Michelle Duster (2/1/22)
League of Women Voters newsletter - “ Dedication of the Suffrage Mural” by Cate Whitcomb (February 2022)
WGN News - “Mural in Chicago celebrates suffragists for Women’s History Month
Ten of the city’s trailblazers are honored on an 8-story mural” - Christine Flores (3/8/22)
10best.com feature - (7/15/22)
Secret Chicago article - “10 Chicago Street Art Murals Paying Homage To Remarkable Women” by Elliot McGowan (3/8/23)
Axios article - “Chicago women who deserve public art tributes, according to readers” by Monica Eng (3/19/23)
Streetwise article (pgs 8-11) - “Commemorating Historic Heroines” by Suzanne Hanney (March 22-28, 2023)
Persistence Overcomes Resistance: Honoring Women Suffragists Through Public Artwork, by Michelle Duster, Ms. Magazine, October 25, 2023
Chicago Murals Celebrating Women: Fighting Erasure and Marginalization Through Public Art, History@work with National Council on Public History, by Michelle Duster, January 16, 2024
Streetwise article (pgs 12-13) - “Chicago Mural Featuring Kamala Harris Faces Opposition” - by Suzanne Hanney (March 22-28, 2023)
CBS This Morning - “Descendants of Suffragists Talk about the Importance of Women’s Voices in 2024” includes Michelle Duster (March 9, 2024)
Publisher
Rights
Artist: DORIAN SYLVAIN https://doriansylvain.com/
Artist: AB PRODUCTIONS
Photographer: Sandra Steinbrecher