Printmakers explore migrant culture in spring Schingoethe exhibit

Art has long been a bridge across cultures. This spring, the Schingoethe Center of Aurora University will bring this power to life in "Mapping Territories/Trazando Territorios: The Art of Exile in Pilsen - Chicago." The exhibition is both timely and meaningful, offering students and the wider community a chance to connect with stories of migration, resilience, and cultural pride.

In Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood, murals stretch across facades like open books, telling the community's story. Alongside these vibrant works, generations of printmakers have used ink and paper to capture the experience and conditions that brought waves of Mexican migrants to the city. "Mapping Territories," which premiered at the Mexican Cultural Institute in Paris in 2024, highlights this rich history of printmaking and its role in shaping a community's collective identity.

The exhibition features 58 prints by renowned Latin American artists, including Carlos Cortéz, Hector Duarte, and Dolores Mercado. The works were chosen from print portfolios that Chicago artist and curator René Arceo has been assembling and publishing since 2005 under Arceo Press. For each of his portfolios, Arceo invites printmakers from around the world to interpret a single theme.

"As a printmaker myself, I have been publishing portfolios for more than 20 years and am interested in finding ways to share them," said Arceo. "I expect students will relate, in a meaningful way, to the different aspects this exhibit addresses."

The exhibition was cocurated by Aline Hémond, professor of anthropology at Paris Nanterre University; Fabienne de Pierrebourg, curator of Americas collections at the Jacques Chirac Museum of Quai Branly; and Ingrid Arriaga of the Mexican Cultural Institute in Paris. Together, they structured "Mapping Territories" around three themes: the Journey, Inhabit the City, and Memory, Identity, Disjunction.

The curators note in the exhibition catalog that while every migrant's story is unique, there are also shared narratives - like Pilsen's, where artists have built connections among residents, most of Mexican origin, through murals and prints that are open to everyone.

Alumni, students, and friends of AU are invited to experience the exhibition January 13-May 15, at the Schingoethe Center. Through the lens of Pilsen's artists, visitors will be encouraged to reflect on migration, belonging, and the enduring power of art to transcend borders.

To view current hours and learn more about the exhibition, visit aurora.edu/museum.