Casa Aztlán, 1977
Marcos Raya
1831 South Racine Avenue
Established in 1970, the Casa Aztlán community
center is one of the oldest social service agencies in Chicago's Pilsen
neighborhood on the city's Near Southwest Side. Ray Patlán served as the
center’s first artist-in-residence and, as one of the early members of the
Chicago Mural Group (known today as the Chicago Public Art Group), painted a
mural on the exterior of the building.
The
Pilsen neighborhood, named by Chicago's early Czech immigrants after Plzeň, the
fourth largest city in what is now the Czech Republic, transitioned over time
from European ethnic groups to Mexican-Americans, many of whom were striving in
the 1970s to preserve their culture.
When the original mural by Patlán and Aurelio
Diaz began to fade in 1977, Marcos Raya (born 1948), a key member of the
Mexican/Chicano mural renaissance of the 1970s and '80s, replaced the mural
with this brightly colored work. Local teens helped with the mural, which
depicts important figures in Mexican history, including Frida Kahlo, Pancho
Villa, Benito Juarez and others. Pre-Columbian images reminiscent of Diego
Rivera's work can also be seen in the mural. Other restoration work by Raya
includes 2010 repainting of the vintage guerilla “People’s Art” piece Prevent World War III at 18th Street and
Western Avenue.
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