Bursting with color and light, a Back of the Yards railroad viaduct might be one of the brightest in Chicago. A mural titled “Woven Together” adorns the viaduct and walkway at South Ashland Avenue and 49th Street. It’s an artistic collaboration of West Town-based Luftwerk, including lighting artists Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero, and South Lawndale muralist Gloria “Gloe” Talamantes. Full article here.

Worry, separation, and anxiety were regular companions for artist Tanya Aguiñiga during her childhood, crossing the U.S.-Mexico border every day to get to and from school. Of course, joy, play, and laughter made appearances, but she recalls feeling a lot of fear, too. “(My parents) told me that I wasn’t allowed to tell anybody that I lived in Mexico because I would get kicked out of school for not being in the school district, so I was just constantly really scared that I was going to get kicked out, that we were going to get found out for not living in the U.S.,” she says. “A lot of my childhood, honestly, was thinking about Mexico and living in Mexico as a really stigmatizing experience where I had to kind of keep everyone separate from myself. … I felt too vulnerable to tell anybody the truth, too insecure with my ability to stay, so a lot of it was very guarded and being constantly scared.” Full article here.