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Chicago Artist Inspires Ignatian Service Learning Students
In February, Chicago-based artist and activist Tonika Lewis Johnson visited Loyola Academy to discuss the evolution and impact of her art on the Chicago community. Her most recent work, the Folded Map Project, connects residents who live at corresponding addresses on Chicago’s North and South Sides with one another and explores the social, racial and institutional conditions that segregate the city. Students from the Ignatian Service Learning Program’s Sociology, Justice Seminar and Studio 2: Art and Social Change classes were in attendance.
“How did your family come to live in your neighborhood?” Johnson opened with a question to students. Together they discussed the importance of factors such as employment, affordability, safety and amenities like shopping centers, parks, grocery stores and restaurants when families decide where to settle.
Johnson wove her personal experiences as a teenager growing up in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood throughout her discussion.
“I started to question why my neighborhood only had liquor stores and vacant lots. There were no cafes, no art,” she explained. “Our city is perfectly divided; you can almost draw a line. I really wanted to do something with my observations.”
Folding a map of Chicago down the center, Johnson described how she photographed address pairs—buildings with the same address but on opposite ends of the city—to demonstrate the inequity in investment and maintenance between parallel neighborhoods across Chicago.
Her discussion with students raised important issues related to spatial justice, systemic segregation and stereotyping. With these questions lingering, Johnson returned to Studio 2: Art and Social Change weeks later to help students develop a collaborative work of socially engaged art. The goal? To bring together diverse perspectives and create a more inclusive community narrative at Loyola.
“In socially engaged artwork, the artists collaborate with a community to create art that seeks to make social change. In our case, that is embracing Loyola's goal of having students feel known and loved while at Loyola through kinship with one another,” says Fine Arts Department Chair Colleen Aufderheide.
The Studio 2 artists assessed what all students have in common at Loyola and decided to develop a project around the commute of students to and from Loyola.
“They will look at the method, time and distance students travel and how that impacts their lives,” Aufderheide explains.
In addition to a series of artworks, Studio 2 artists will host several workshops engaging fellow students in dialogue about the broader questions commuting raises including time management, stress and equity.
“Ultimately, the students hope to build community by elevating and representing the individual stories of students who have different experiences getting to Loyola, but commonly share in its mission,” says Aufderheide.
Tonika Lewis Johnson is a Chicago-based artist and activist. She was named a 2017 Chicagoan of the Year by Chicago Magazine. To learn more about Johnson and her work,click here.
To learn more about Loyola’s Ignatian Service Learning program,click here.
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