Arts & Education

The Arts & Education program makes Latino issues not only visible, but also artistically engaging.

The Arts & Education Program works to spotlight the experiences of contemporary immigrants, with a focus on the experience of Latino immigrants in Chicago and connects our community members to the arts so that they can creatively explore the issues that affect their lives.

Teatro Americano:

Teatro Americano is Latinos Progresando’s own theater company. Teatro Americano (TA) produces theater and theater education that is for our community, by our community’s youth, and based in our shared experiences. Teatro Americano uses our students’ and their parents, grandparents, and neighbors’ stories to build productions that speak to our communities and portray our visions for a better world. TA provides opportunities to think and act in creative ways that take back our voice and counter negative stereotypes of Latino youth and communities.

TA initially began in the living rooms of Latinos Progresando staff and community members, with a series of readings of La Victima, a play about how an immigrant family’s initially hopeful attitude toward American life is challenged. Now, Teatro Americano has grown to be an integral part of LP, and of our Latino arts community. In 2004, Teatro produced its first original play, which focused on the importance of the Latino Vote and voter registration. Since 2004, Teatro Americano has written and performed 5 original plays and 3 plays by Latino authors, all dealing with the urban immigrant experience. Teatro’s plays portray important issues that Latinos may avoid openly discussing and of which non-Latinos are often unaware.

In 2007-2008, Teatro Americano began to focus on youth training, which has since become the major focus of our program. Now, Teatro Americano runs after-school programs in Chicago organizations and Chicago Public Schools that teach acting techniques to hundreds of low-income students. Teatro Americano has taught theatre workshops and educational programs at Benito Juarez High School, Eli Whitney Elementary School, Castellanos Elementary School, Francisco I. Madero School, and Telpochcalli School.

For grammar school and middle school students, co-artistic directors Emmanuel Gutierrez and Zulema Ortiz teach introductory theatre composition and acting at Rosario Castellanos and Francisco I. Madero schools. The program is free, open to all, and focuses on cultivating students’ self-expression through writing and non-hierarchical theatre.

For high school students, Teatro Americano offers an intensive summer session, through which students get a glimpse of the basics of theatre, including acting through the Suzuki Method and Viewpoints, writing, marketing, and stage management. Teens visit local professional theatre companies to view productions and to understand the behind-the-scenes work. Through these experiences, apprentices ultimately create their very own full length production.

Teatro Americano also maintains its own professional Youth Ensemble. The Youth Ensemble is a program for talented, committed youth from our After School Programs, Summer Programs, and from the broader community to continue to develop and refine their abilities. The Ensemble creates and tours an original production every year. The process of creating this original play begins with surveying our community about important issues and stories. After receiving our community’s input, the Youth Ensemble then writes, edits, casts, produces, markets, and performs a show. Ensemble members also return as teachers to our After School Program, perform for after-school and summer students, and help lead community workshops.

In addition to youth training, Teatro Americano leads open workshops at a variety of different organizations, schools, and community events. In the past, workshops have addressed a range of issues, from resilience to trauma, at a Project Launch Children’s Mental Health Day workshop, to Latino history, at a performance at the University of Chicago’s Delores Huerta and Cesar Chavez commemoration week.

Persons from any background or experience can get involved with Teatro Americano. For those that want to be involved as actors, writers, directors, or stage hands, participating in Teatro Americano means working to tell an American story from a Latino perspective, a goal that any dedicated person can contribute to. Teatro Americano also welcomes material support, and works hard to turn donated funds and supplies into thoughtful messages about Chicago’s Latino communities.

If you or your organization is interested in coordinating a workshop or performance with Teatro Americano, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us! Please direct your questions to Teatro Americano’s Co-Artistic Directors, Emmanuel Gutierrez and Zulema Ortiz.

*You can book Teatro Americano for a performance or theater workshop. Download the request form to find out how 

 

Mural Project:

On September 24, 2010, Latinos Progresando finished its first mural project, in partnership with artists Pablo Serrano and Delilah Salgado. The mural is located at 1030 West Cullerton Street, on a wall donated by one of our legal services clients, Juan Carlos Espinoza. The mural honors Jeff Maldonado, an artistic 19-year-old who was mistaken for a gang member and killed on the 1400-block of West 18th Street in 2010. During the Mural Project, community members and young artists all worked to transform the wall’s gang-related graffiti into a mural that shows the historic culture and recent experiences of Pilsen residents. Latinos Progresando hopes that this mural is the beginning of an annual mural project.

 

 

Read more about our Mural Project