Marzena Abrahamik

WOMAN SIGNIFIES, is an ongoing collaboration with Chicago Public High Schools’ students as extracurricular programming to support schools with depleting arts education. I started photographing at Young Women’s Leadership Charter School in Douglas, a school that closed in the Spring of 2019 and have continued the collaboration with Michele Clark Academic Magnet High School students in Austin. The project focuses on gender perceptions and how photography can present gender relative to context. A majority of young women today believe that gender does not define us the way it has in the past and we no longer feel pressure to conform to traditional gender roles or behaviors. As an artist my intention is to preserve the student’s autonomy while underlining their self-discovery and their strengths. The final photographs are spontaneous and collaborative meditation; their aim is to situate the sitter within their own psychologies. We work together on the pose and location in order to arrive together at the final image. Each photograph resonates with the tension between the woman as student, and woman as an individual, a woman as she is within her community, and a woman as she is seen through the eyes of the audience.

Our collaborations revolve around discussions: how they would like to be seen and what they would like the photograph to feel like. The language of photography is explained and communicated. What does it mean for the subject of the photograph to look into the camera and how looking away from the camera often allows for a narrative to emerge. Through the introduction of visual representations I hope to equip and empower students with an understanding of the limitations and possibilities of being represented today.

GIRLHOOD: This body of work continues my previous exploration of the representation of “the girl” as a particular figure in American society. But what is a “girl”? And how does she come to understand herself outside of the preconceived notions of society? What are the demands and constrictions that she faces? And how does she find joy in spite of them? What are the high school experiences of a girl? And how do those experiences prepare her for a world organized against her? How does she relate, show love, and respect towards others? How can we celebrate girls’ shared experiences, resilience, and resistance in the face of crises that have become ordinary? And how does all of this change in relation to Blackness?

Marzena Abrahamik and Justin Schmitz worked together to create images for the athletic teams and clubs at Michele Clark High School. The work was originally conceived to provide the staff images for their yearbook layouts. Working together, they created images that would elevate the standard yearbook photograph into something more dramatic and memorable. These photographs made in the context of the Artists in Public Schools Residency take on another life when presented outside the yearbook context. Our intention is to to inspire positive social change by creating an archive of empowering portraits.

 

GIRLHOOD

This body of work continues my previous exploration of the representation of “the girl” as a particular figure in American society. But what is a “girl”? And how does she come to understand herself outside of the preconceived notions of society? What are the demands and constrictions that she faces? And how does she find joy in spite of them? What are the high school experiences of a girl? And how do those experiences prepare her for a world organized against her? How does she relate, show love, and respect towards others? How can we celebrate girls’ shared experiences, resilience, and resistance in the face of crises that have become ordinary? And how does all of this change in relation to Blackness?

Photograph projections, installed and designed by Jeff Phillips, on Phoenix Academy and Michele Clark HS. Photographs projected on Michele Clark HS were provided by Marzena Abrahamik which were taken at the school.

“Art can tell stories and change narratives,” says Suzette Bross, Executive Director of Artists in Public Schools. “This mural is an expression of giving back to the community and showing the good in humanity.”

In June 2020, a group of Chicago students transformed the temporary plywood used to cover BMO Harris Bank’s main branch during protests into a work of art that expresses messages of hope and unity, representing the opportunity we all have to create a more inclusive community together.

As protests erupted across Chicago – and the country – and thousands of Chicagoans demonstrated peacefully, Artists in Public Schools and BMO Harris Bank were eager to find ways to support our communities and stand against racial inequality and injustice. BMO – a longstanding supporter of both Chicago’s public schools and the city’s arts community – reached out to Artists in Public Schools and asked if they wanted to create artwork on the plywood around the branch.

“BMO’s values of fairness, equality and inclusion perfectly align with ours,” says Suzette, who founded Artists in Public Schools, a non-profit organization that creates artist residencies in Chicago Public Schools to share honest and positive stories about public schools. Local artists partner with a Chicago Public School during the academic year to collaborate on a project. The art they create gives young people in Chicago a platform to speak about their hopes, dreams, and ideas.

“There are 400,000 students in the CPS system, and many people in the city don’t know anything about them,” says Jeff Phillips, a local artist who works with Artists in Public Schools. “This was an opportunity to give the students their own voice – in a really public way.”

Amplifying voices

Like protest, art can give a louder voice to people who aren’t being heard. The recent protests have given voice to people from all walks of life, joining together to demand change to make society more just and inclusive. Similarly, this group of Chicago Public School students and artists created a powerful public art project to send a message of their own.

“Protest and public art are similar expressions. They’re both a personal statement of values,” says Dorian Sylvain, a Chicago artist and Artists in Public Schools collaborator. “Displaying art in the public spaces goes beyond aesthetics. It creates dialogue – and it’s human nature to want to be heard.”

Suzette reached out to Jeff and Dorian to collaborate, and they quickly got to work on a proposal and a design. Together, they came up with the idea of a mural made up of images and photos from Artists in Public Schools artists and CPS schools, highlighting the proud academic achievements of graduating students – and surrounded by images of life at public schools across the city.

“Highlighting all these beautiful young faces that are usually somewhat anonymous – it not only empowers the kids who see themselves on that mural, but also other people who are like them. That can be very validating,” says Dorian.

Jeff agrees. “We wanted to evoke something positive and emotional, and to do what art is supposed to do – reflect the everyday in a new light.”

A creative collective

Titled “If I Could Show the World,” the mural was named and assembled by students from more than 20 Chicago public schools participating in the Artists in Public Schools program. Hyde Park Art Center donated its space, and more than 75 people came together to create the murals, including students who chose to spend their first day of summer vacation there.

“The experience was festive. We had music playing, it was a beautiful day, the students came in and they brought their friends. We just had a good time,” says Dorian. “The spirit of collective work, and the gratification of producing something together that one person couldn’t have done on their own – it’s so empowering. Sharing, listening, learning from each other – all those principles come out when we work together.”

“It was one of the best experiences of my life,” says Jeff. “To see these kids creating together, and hearing them say things like ‘I feel like an artist’ – it was incredible.”

Inclusion and equality

Artists in Public Schools is the first of several non-profits that will create art for BMO’s main branch windows over the coming months, serving as a visual reminder to continue our progress toward a more inclusive society. The art will be displayed in neighborhoods across Chicago as it rotates out of the bank’s windows.

BMO believes this is not a time to be silent. We will always stand up for a more just society where all people are valued equally. These murals are part of our pledge to speak up for what’s right, and to create space for other voices to be heard.

“Art is such a powerful and direct way to express hope and optimism,” says Jeff. “Public art speaks to the community. The message spreads. If you create something interesting and beautiful, you invite people in to learn more about your world – and that can make all the difference.”

BMO is committed to zero barriers to inclusion, and we strive for that vision by supporting real financial progress for our customers and communities.

Read about BMO’s recent $10 million donation through the United Way of Metro Chicago as part of Chicago’s Invest South/West initiative, our recent donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Equal Justice Initiative, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and Greater Twin Cities United Way, to support social and racial justice, and inclusion.

Learn more about community giving at BMO.

And please, consider donating to Artists in Public Schools as we take on our next endeavors.