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Artists in Public Schools creates artist residencies in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), providing expansive art making experiences for students, educators, and professional Chicago-based artists. Working together with a collaborative, community-focused mindset, we celebrate and widely share the unique stories of CPS students and schools through art and creativity. When the arts and aesthetics are integrated into education, work, and life, we strengthen our capacity to learn. Creating something is at the core of learning.
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ropes gray, chicago artists, cps lives, chicago public schools

University of Chicago Charter School: Woodlawn

Augustus H. Burley Elementary School

Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School

This photographic series documents the coming of age of students at Phoenix Military Academy in Chicago. The photographs show moments from their routines, social activities and daily lives. At Phoenix Military Academy students begin their days with military style formations and are given potential pathways towards careers in the military. Within the school the students have widely varying levels of interest in the military. The pictures show a pivotal time in life where students are newly forming their beliefs and individual lives outside of their homes. The uniform becomes a central symbol to the school’s philosophy that inner order leads to external order. How does this in turn influence or create tension with the tumult of teenage years? How does our upbringing produce our country?

J. Daniel Hud is a documentary photographer and educator living and working in Chicago, Illinois. He studied photojournalism at Northern Arizona University and has had photographs in The Guardian, Bloomberg Businessweek, Stern and many other publications. In 2021 he received an MFA from Columbia College Chicago. In 2022 he published &#8220;Militiagan,&#8221; a monograph detailing a year spent following the American Militia movement in the time of the 2020 election.

J. Daniel Hud

East Garfield Park

Phoenix Military Academy

J. Daniel Hud & Phoniex Military Academy

“The Art of Photography,” by Nyia Sissac 
During the third and fourth quarter of the Chicago Public School academic year, I planned on building an understanding with students on the importance of the word legacy. But as I continued through my eleven week program I realized that the students needed to focus on the word vulnerability. Starting from January until March I taught the students what it means to be vulnerable. What it means to accept themselves but also reflect themselves as the people they are becoming.Though journaling practices I taught the children how to open up, express and empower their feelings. Still touching on generational legacy the journaling allowed them to build themselves not only in the classroom but outside of it as well. With the journaling practices I saw the children become more aware of themselves, more talkative, and more prepared to create unique images, that were and are still strong to provide a story without much explanation. 
Collaborating with Frederick Douglass High School, allowed me to be creatively free while also becoming somewhat of a teacher. Teaching the students the basics about the camera, photography history, and how to pose and frame themselves in an image. For the first half of the program (about 7 weeks into the program) I photographed the students on medium format Black and White film. Through this process we developed a routine but also room for exploration through flowers, frames and lighting. Instead of changing to color film I decided to stick with Black and White as it made the children more profound. I was able to have something that was the same yet different each week. Photographing the kids for the first seven weeks not only allowed me to get them comfortable in front of the lens, it documented the beginning of their journey. It allowed me to learn and memorize each of their stories, quirks, loves, passions and dislikes. Instead of releasing control to the background and lighting I let it stay the same for the eleven weeks, I released control to the students by allowing them to dress however they like, pose, and hold their prop however they choose. Of course with the help of my two class assistants we were able to produce magic. Towards the second half about
5 weeks left of the program students began taking photos of each other with little to no guidance they were able to develop perceptions of themselves. I believe I reached multiple goals, especially my main goal which was to see the physical and mental growth the students made in the short 11 weeks. Students went from not smiling to smiling, wearing hoodies to not wearing them. To being more veraball about how they wanted to be perceived and how they wanted the frame of the image to be. The biggest joy of this project was seeing the children grow through film. Each week I went home and developed the film by hand and scanned it to be digitized. Through the negatives of each image you can see when they begin to be themselves rather than the persona put on by peer pressure from teachers, other students, and even the pressure they put on themselves. The original concept for the Frederick Douglass High School installation was,”Taking a portrait of him (Fredrick Douglass) I will change the opacity to lighter and with the children in forefront. With this you can see hints of Fredrick Douglass peeking through the students hand picked portrait.” But instead we settled on 5 fabric panels that swayed. 4 of the panels were images of the students in a selection of three’s two panels set on each side with Fredrick Douglass in the center. This allowed for the students and their legacy to be front and center but also allowed them a moment of being in the spotlight.Not to be overshadowed by Fredrick Douglass putting him in the center still allowed for his legacy to not be left behind but cherished. 
The reason I titled this work ,”The Art of Photography,” is because of the way photography can be used as a tool to create, cherish and learn from vulnerability. But also legacy, where we are able to document each phase of our lives and leave behind a legacy that is unique and filled with stories, ups and downs. The students learned the art of photography through history, lighting, framing and posing. They learned how to themselves in front of a camera which is the most important thing the art of photography can do.

Nyia Sissac is a portrait photographer based in Chicago, IL. She graduated from Columbia College Chicago, with a BA in photography. Her practice uses portraiture as a tool to document and tell a new unique definition of Blackness,  creating a palette of colors and textures to make a conceptual story. She creates as a way to teach my fellow community that photography can be a tool that helps you heal. It helps you release emotions, secrets, and places that you have been and maybe haven’t experienced yet.

Nyia Sissac

Austin

Frederick Douglass Academy High School

Nyia Sissac & Frederick Douglass High School

This piece is a member of my ongoing series of Memory Vessels: ceramic objects intended for the
storage and preservation of memory and experience as opposed to food and drink. I worked with the kids in Ms. B’s 3rd grade class to select objects they felt encapsulated their time at Waters Elementary.
We discussed the 17 year cicada cycle and how the natural rhythms of the Earth offer metaphors with which to explore and describe our own experiences. We also discussed the solar eclipse and how they’ll always remember such a special, once-in-a-lifetime event they spent together at Waters.
The vessel depicts the school building one one side and the playground on the other, with kids running about, reading on the benches, and watching the eclipse together. Buried below ground are the objects the kids chose and drew out for me to add to the piece, which I think worked wonderfully to incorporate their unique lived perspectives into the work.

Jayne King is a Chicago-born Jewish artist and recent graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (BFA 2022), where they spent their time focusing on ceramics, object collection, and book making. Their work has been exhibited nationally at Sweetwater Center for the Arts, Povos Gallery, the Joan Flasch Artists’ Book Collection, SAIC Galleries, and Woman Made Gallery.
King was a 2022 ArtAxis+Haystack Fellowship recipient, a 2022 Chicago Artist Coalition SPARK Grant recipient, 2023 Luminarts Finalist, the 2023 Old Town Arts Fest Inaugural Emerging Artist, and is currently a long-term artist in residence at The Digs Chicago.

Jayne King

Ravenswood

Waters Elementary School

Jayne King & Water Elementary

I would like to show students craft as an artistic practice. The history of craft is seen as women&#8217;s work and for this reason, craft as a term has been disregarded as a way of making outside of high art, which implies it is low art. Accessible art should not be regarded as &#8220;low&#8221;. Depending on the amount of students this could be done in the form of making quilted or crocheted piece- I&#8217;d like to teach the students how to sew or crochet, each would work on their personal quilt square to then be combined into a full blanket, by me with student assistance. I&#8217;m open to multiple skill shares if time is permitting. 
Project: I taught the students how to latch hook and punch needle! There was some yarn drawing as well. This work focused on teaching the 4th graders of Ruiz Elementary a new skill.

I am an interdisciplinary artist from the Bay Area, CA currently based in Chicago, where I received my BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. My work focuses on the more challenging conversations we may have out in the world while taking a softer approach to the topic, in an attempt to not add to the ever-growing desensitization of the trauma of it all. Whether discussions on intergenerational trauma, autonomy, or conversations on health and wellness, the way we approach the topic is essential. That is why I take a tactile approach, focusing the materiality on what is often plush to touch. My color palette reflects this softness with its bright, child-like innocence, hopefully inviting you to soothe your inner child. 
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While I have been playing with the balance between soft and hard, some recent work has been more lighthearted. I am interested in playing with space, time, and a sense of what could be, where or when are you going or are you coming? Often playing on the uncanny and the nostalgic. I balance my time between my practice and teaching artistic skills to all ages.

Eseosa Edebiri

Pilsen

Irma C. Ruiz Elementary School

Eseosa Edebiri & Ruiz Elementary

“Ink to Paper”
Miguel Limón – CPSLives Resident 2023-24
In collaboration with students at Walter Payton College Prep
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Young people have a vital role in driving cultural shifts and social movements. By focusing on Chicago&#8217;s rich history of print media and the vibrant Zine and self-publishing community, I aim to engage young individuals in researching, documenting, and interpreting collective memory. Through archival interventions, photography, and printmaking, students may create meaningful print media such as posters, zines, flyers, and oral histories to express their values, support cultural preservation, raise awareness, and promote dialogue within their community.
Working alongside students, I will explore public domain archives, uncovering the impactful use of print media in historical social movements specific to Chicago, including the Black Panthers, the Young Lords, the Chicago Defender, and the Chicago Women&#8217;s Graphic Collective. Additionally, students will embark on photography journeys to capture meaningful spaces that reflect their worldviews and communal experiences. Leveraging screen-printing and risography techniques, they may then transform their research findings, photographs, and personal narratives into thoughtful and visually compelling print media.
One of Payton&#8217;s art teachers, Pat Guizzetti, is a faculty sponsor for various clubs, including the Art Club and the Queer Student Alliance, which I was actively involved in during my time at school. Recently, students have expressed concerns about a recent change implemented by the school administration: the reduction of gender-neutral bathrooms. These bathrooms were initially opened in response to the efforts of teenagers during my time in the club. To address this issue, I will co-create flyers and posters informed by the graphics of previous movements. The hope is to scaffold an entry point into printing-making so students can take action in- and outside of the school community. To do this, I will conduct a brief risograph workshop in collaboration with the Queer Student Alliance, aiming to generate interest and establish a curriculum for poster design and printing geared toward teenagers.
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Over the course of my year at Payton, I intend to foster connections with other faculty members to identify additional student groups that could benefit from access to the risograph printer. By the end of the year, there will be a substantial collection of prints that I will scan and repurpose to create a series of larger mixed-media artworks.
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Students may participate in research, artmaking, and community-building. School administrators may participate in regular communication and collaboration, incorporating their expertise into decision-making. Additionally, there is an opportunity for community forums or workshops catered to parents, guardians, and community members. By applying ink to paper, young individuals empower themselves and establish effective methods of sharing and expressing their values. The resulting print media will celebrate Chicago&#8217;s rich printmaking heritage and act as catalysts for cultural preservation, awareness, and dialogue within the community. Exhibitions and public engagements will provide a broader platform for students to share their work, ensuring their voices resonate beyond the classroom.
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Miguel Limon is a Chicago-based visual artist, educator, and cultural worker with a focus on image-making, decolonial educational practice, and youth work in Chicago’s underserved communities. Miguel holds a BS in Education and Museum Studies from DePaul University in Chicago and is pursuing a MA in Museum Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. As a cultural organizer and artist, Miguel has offered services at the University of Chicago Office of Civic Engagement, Arts + Public Life: An Initiative of UChicago Arts, the Museum of Contemporary Arts Chicago, the Chicago History Museum, the Museum of Science and Industry, DePaul University, and others. 
As a researcher, Miguel explores dimensions of learning in non-formal cultural institutions like museums and libraries. They have also conducted research in critical mentorship in higher education for underrepresented communities.

Miguel Limon

Old Town

Walter Payton College Preparatory High School

Miguel Limon & Payton College Prep

Armando Román is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in the Midwest. He received his BFA in Studio Arts from Denison University and his MFA in Visual Arts from The Ohio State University. His drawings traverse themes of religion, homosexuality, community, and the metaphysical self.
He is an artist who makes work on paper. The paper varies, colored construction paper, rice paper, canvas. His work combines digital brushstrokes with physical marks made often with crayon, colored pencils, and washable markers. The Mexican landscape, both cultural and literal, is of particular interest to him.

Armando Roman

West Ridge

DeWitt Clinton Elementary School

Armando Roman & Clinton Elementary

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During my residency with Artists in Public Schools, I explored the concept of objects and their connections to personal narratives and community. The focus of my project, titled “The Day We Are All Included,” centers around the theme of objects seeping out from the slit of a locker at an elementary school. This project delves into the everyday lives of students, capturing the unnoticed and often overlooked details that hold significant meaning.
One of the pivotal elements of this work was the creation of storytelling in collaboration with Ms. Ni’s second graders and Ms. Martinez’s art class at Haines Elementary. This slide incorporated the students’ artwork, allowing them to express their creativity and stories through their illustrations. The project aimed to foster a sense of community and belonging, encouraging students to see the beauty in the small details of their daily lives.
Another aspect of my project was the design of keychains inspired by the seeping straps. These keychains were distributed to the students, symbolizing the connection between art and everyday objects, and serving as a tangible reminder of their participation and contribution to the project.
Throughout the residency, I encountered challenges such as balancing various responsibilities and adapting to different teaching methods. However, these challenges provided valuable learning experiences and ultimately enriched my work.
Artists in Public Schools residency has been a profoundly rewarding experience, allowing me to engage with the community, inspire creativity in young minds, and develop a deeper understanding of the significance of everyday objects in our lives.
 
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chang ching su, Tia Mitchell, CPS Lives, Chicago public schools, nonprofit, art organization, chicago students, chicago artist, photography, saic

Chang-Ching Su searches for transitional spaces between different systems or structures of authority, on the stage or behind the backdoor, before a parenthesis, after a quotation, within vicissitudes, beyond perpetuity. Acting as an internal birdwatcher, stalker, activist, protagonist, and apologist, he shuttles between understanding and incomprehensibility, between naivety and reality, between red velvet cake and national security, between free-flowing elocution and words approaching the tip of the tongue. 
As an interdisciplinary artist, Su works with images, languages, found objects, videos, appropriations, social structures, stereotypes, conversations, inquiries, humor, satire, and randomness. He holds a BA in Political Science from National Taiwan University and is currently an MFA candidate at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Chang-Ching “Casper” Su

South Side

Haines Elementary

Chang-Ching “Casper” Su & Haines Elementary

denise waite, cps lives, chicago public schools, art institute of chicago, tia mitchell, hockney

Denise Waite is an accomplished visual artist as well as a writer.  She is a graduate of Williams College where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Art with honors. Recently she received her Master of Fine Arts in Art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University. Her primary focus in art is portraiture in pastels and acrylic paint. 
https://www.denisewaite.com/

Denise Waite

Lincoln Park

Lincoln Park High School

Denise Waite & Lincoln Park High School

I will be creating a large fabric painting which will incorporate the students&#8217; art.  I will be working with 3rd grade students at Columbia Explorers Academy. First I will do a slide presentation for the students introducing them to different surrealist artists like Varo, Carrington and Dali.  I want to inspire them to use imagery from their imagination with an emphasis on nature. I will also present examples of my work and talk a little about the imagery I use and how nature and surrealism inspires me. The students will then create small paintings, approx 12 x 12 inches, on fabric which I will incorporate into my larger piece.  Every student&#8217;s art will be included in the painting.  It will take me approx 2 months to create the painting.   Once completed the painting will be displayed at the school where the students will have the opportunity to see their important contributions to the art work.

sandra leonard, tia mitchell, cps lives, chicago public schools, artist residency, chicago artist, suzette bross, nonprofit, dcase

Sandra Leonard born in Germany, moved to Texas as a child.  She has been creating wearable sculptural and costumes for over 30 years.  She received her BFA at the University of North Texas State and her MFA in Sculpture at Northern Illinois University.  Early on the Bauhaus was very influential on her development as an artist. She had the opportunity to visit the Stadtsgalerie Stuttgart and saw Oskar Schlemmer’s costumes displayed as sculpture. That experience had a profound impact on her and began her fascination with creating costumes. Later she became intrigued with collaborations between Merce Cunningham and Rauschenberg. Early on she worked with Emergence Dance theater creating costumes used in dance performances that traveled around the country and to Paris. Leonard continues to focus on sculptural costumes and performance. In the last 30 years she has been involved in numerous performances, improvised theater, dance , alternative fashion shows and installation projects. She has had work shown in Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco, Washington DC and Paris, France. In 2014 she was selected Featured Artist for city wide annual event Chicago’s Artist Month. Leonard featured 10 sculptural costumes in a Surrealist fashion show “Crossing Into Dream” . In 2017 Leonard represented the Beverly ward in the “50 x 50” show at the Cultural Center in Chicago. She later presented a performance/dance entitled “ Wandering Bird” . She created 10 wearable sculptures which provided interpretive opportunities for performance artist and dancers. For the dance segments she collaborated with Sandra Kaufmann, a distinguished dancer and choreographer. In 2019 she designed interactive costumes for the Art Institute of Chicago’s “Room To Move” in celebration of the Bauhaus 100th anniversary. In 2021 Leonard presented costumes and painting in a solo exhibit “Sandra Leonard: Elements of the Imagination” at the Beverly Art Center. She most recently had a solo exhibition at the Evanston Arts Center entitled “Sandra Leonard: Unexpected Narratives With Flora And Fauna”.
<a href="https://www.sandraleonard.com/">https://www.sandraleonard.com/</a>

Sandra Leonard

Brighton Park

Columbia Explorers Academy

Sandra Leonard & Columbia Explorers Academy

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In the second year of Alyce’s Artists in Public Schools residency, she centered her work on a collaborative project that explored the representation of students’ identities through objects. Female-identifying students from each grade were invited to bring personal items from home to contribute to the creation of a still-life composition. Each grade engaged in a collaborative process, collectively determining the arrangement of the objects to construct the final composition. Alyce worked closely with the students in selecting the final photograph that would serve as the representation of the female-identifying students in each grade at Ravenswood.
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Tia Mitchell, Alyce Haliday Mcqueen, CPS Lives, Chicago public schools, nonprofit, art organization, chicago students, chicago artist, photography

Alyce Haliday McQueen is an artist and educator in Chicago, IL. Her work delves into the concepts surrounding feminine identity and female stereotypes. She weaves between medias, incorporating photography, video, sculpture, and installation techniques. McQueen&#8217;s exhibition record includes group exhibitions at: Pacific Design Center, Los Angeles, CA; The Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO; Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL; Filter Space, Chicago, IL; Perspective Photography Gallery, Evanston, IL, and solo exhibitions at: Max L. Gatov Gallery, Long Beach, CA; Lillstreet Annex, Chicago, IL; Kitchen Space Gallery, Chicago, IL; and Wedge Projects, Chicago, IL. She was named an &#8220;Artist to Look Out For&#8221; by Starry Night Publications and is a two-time recipient of the Puffin Foundation Individual Artist Grant. In addition to her art practice, she enjoys cats and chocolate cake.
https://alycehaliday.com/

Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School

Stories from Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School

J. Daniel Hud
& Phoniex Military Academy
J. Daniel Hud & Phoniex Military Academy

Nyia Sissac
& Frederick Douglass High School
Nyia Sissac & Frederick Douglass High School

Jayne King
& Water Elementary
Jayne King & Water Elementary

Eseosa Edebiri
& Ruiz Elementary
Eseosa Edebiri & Ruiz Elementary

Miguel Limon
& Payton College Prep
Miguel Limon & Payton College Prep

Armando Roman
& Clinton Elementary
Armando Roman & Clinton Elementary

Chang-Ching “Casper” Su
& Haines Elementary
Chang-Ching “Casper” Su & Haines Elementary

Denise Waite
& Lincoln Park High School
Denise Waite & Lincoln Park High School

Sandra Leonard
& Columbia Explorers Academy
Sandra Leonard & Columbia Explorers Academy

Alyce Haliday McQueen
& Ravenswood Elementary
Alyce Haliday McQueen & Ravenswood Elementary

Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School

Stories from Beulah Shoesmith Elementary School

J. Daniel Hud & Phoniex Military AcademyJ. Daniel Hud & Phoniex Military Academy

Nyia Sissac & Frederick Douglass High SchoolNyia Sissac & Frederick Douglass High School

Jayne King & Water ElementaryJayne King & Water Elementary

Eseosa Edebiri & Ruiz ElementaryEseosa Edebiri & Ruiz Elementary

Miguel Limon & Payton College PrepMiguel Limon & Payton College Prep

Armando Roman & Clinton ElementaryArmando Roman & Clinton Elementary

Chang-Ching “Casper” Su & Haines ElementaryChang-Ching “Casper” Su & Haines Elementary

Denise Waite & Lincoln Park High SchoolDenise Waite & Lincoln Park High School

Sandra Leonard & Columbia Explorers AcademySandra Leonard & Columbia Explorers Academy

Alyce Haliday McQueen & Ravenswood ElementaryAlyce Haliday McQueen & Ravenswood Elementary

J. Daniel Hud
& Phoniex Military Academy
J. Daniel Hud & Phoniex Military Academy

Nyia Sissac
& Frederick Douglass High School
Nyia Sissac & Frederick Douglass High School

Jayne King
& Water Elementary
Jayne King & Water Elementary

Eseosa Edebiri
& Ruiz Elementary
Eseosa Edebiri & Ruiz Elementary

Miguel Limon
& Payton College Prep
Miguel Limon & Payton College Prep

Armando Roman
& Clinton Elementary
Armando Roman & Clinton Elementary

Chang-Ching “Casper” Su
& Haines Elementary
Chang-Ching “Casper” Su & Haines Elementary

Denise Waite
& Lincoln Park High School
Denise Waite & Lincoln Park High School

Sandra Leonard
& Columbia Explorers Academy
Sandra Leonard & Columbia Explorers Academy

Alyce Haliday McQueen
& Ravenswood Elementary
Alyce Haliday McQueen & Ravenswood Elementary