It is the “Year of the Alebrijes” in West Chicago and to celebrate the occasion, the City has installed a special community art experience in the downtown area for all to enjoy.
To honor the six artists that created the sculptures at the Alebrijes: Creatures of a Dream World exhibit at Cantigny Park, the City has installed six murals throughout downtown West Chicago with each showcasing a preliminary drawing created by each of the artists that were used for their final sculptures. This special exhibit is called “Artists of a Dream World Tour.” (One artist has two drawings showcased as part of exhibit.)
Each of these special drawings were selected from the Mexican Cultural Center DuPage’s art exhibit at Gallery 200, “Maquetas y Bocetos,” which features the preliminary drawings and models that were used to envision the sculptures at the exhibit at Cantigny Park.
The Mexican Cultural Center DuPage’s Fernando Ramirez, was the individual who had the initial vision for bringing this cultural art form to the DuPage County region through the art installation at Cantigny Park and Gallery 200. As the home of Fernando, the Mexican Cultural Center DuPage, and Gallery 200, this community art experience is a representation of West Chicago being the beginning of the alebrijes vision for DuPage County, or the initial “portal into a dream world.”
Before, or after, visiting the art exhibit at Cantigny Park, Alebrijes: Creatures of a Dream World, the City encourages residents and visitors to also enjoy downtown West Chicago to view the initial artwork that inspired the sculptures through this special tour and a visit to Gallery 200’s “Maquetas y Bocetoes” exhibit.
The City would like to especially thank the Mexican Cultural Center DuPage for providing the drawings used as part of this installation, as well as the artists who created them: Alejandro Camacho Barrera, Perla Miriam Salgado Zamorano, Alberto Moreno Fernández, Roberto Carlos Martinez Tecillo, Edgar Israel Camargo Reyes, and Emanuel Arturo Zárate Ortíz.
For more information about this community collaboration and different experiences happening throughout the community, please visit westchicago.org/alebrijes.