Watershed: Ways of Knowing the River @ Bubbly Creek

The Chicago River holds and weaves together a prism of stories. Wherever you

touch it, you touch layers and layers of history, ecology, culture, and art.

The goal of this project is to gather folks from different communities to

experience the river in this holographic way, as a holder of memory, as a

storyteller.

To do this, we’ll run a series of four experiences this summer—three on

kayaks and one on the shore. Each will take place on a different segment of

the Chicago River. During this time, participants will engage with and learn

from community activists, artists, historians, and ecologists about that

specific site and the narratives it holds. The experiences will be interactive

and will include creating art and engaging in community science. We hope that

participants will build community, share their own stories, and leave with a

richer understanding of the ways the river connects all things.

Participants will be given a single kayak, which fits one person, to use for the duration of the program. This program is for ages 14+.

This event seeks to bring together people with a diversity of viewpoints and experiences, which can range from folks who frequent the river to folks who have never been on a kayak before. You will be notified via email to secure your spot.

Your Facilitators

Natasha Mijares is an artist, writer, curator, and educator. She received her

MFA in Writing from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She has exhib-

ited at various international and national galleries. Her work has appeared in

Gravity of the Thing, Hypertext Review, Calamity, Vinyl Poetry, and more.

Teresa Dzieglewicz is a Pushcart Prize-winning poet, educator, and lover of

rivers and prairies. She is a Black Earth Institute fellow, a Chicago Poetry

Center Poet-in-Residence, and part of the founding team of Mni Wichoni Naki-

cizin Wounspe (Defenders of the Water School). Her first book of poetry,

Something Small of How to See a River, is forthcoming from Tupelo Press and

her first children’s book, Belonging (co-written with Kimimila Locke), is

forthcoming from Chronicle Books.

Marya Spont-Lemus

Marya Spont-Lemus is a writer, interdisciplinary artist, and informal educator. In all her work, she strives to enable a more empathetic and just society. With her partner, Andrés Lemus-Spont, she co-created the FrankenToyMobile (2015-2019; an ¡Anímate! Studio project) and is a co-founder of the Mobilize Creative Collaborative. She lives, works, and makes on the Southwest Side of Chicago.

Andres Spont-Lemus

Andrés Lemus-Spont is an artist, designer, educator, fabricator, and proud child of Mexican immigrants. Much of Andrés' work engages with themes of community empowerment, equity, and creative exploration, particularly focusing on how collaborative play, craft, and experimentation can lead us to radical futures.With Marya Spont-Lemus, Andrés co-founded ¡Anímate! Studio, a shared community arts practice that is a vehicle for playful, intergenerational creative workshops in public space that invite re-imagining and re-making through hands-on exercises in critical pedagogy. Also through ¡Anímate!, Andrés is a founding member of the Mobilize Creative Collaborative (with Marya, Aquil Charlton, and William Estrada), which utilizes bicycle-based makerspaces to provide free, accessible arts workshops in public spaces across Chicago's South and Southwest Sides. Andrés founded and currently directs Building Brown Workshop (2016-present), a design and fabrication studio serving artists, architects, and communities. Andrés is also a co-founder of Cooperation Racine (with Andrea Yarbrough, Kayla Reefer, Tavia David, and Saleem Hue Penny), an alternative worker-cooperative founded by Black and Brown artists and makers.

Citlali Trujillo

Citlalli Trujillo is a first-generation college graduate who holds a BS in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Environmental and Occupational Health Science. As a member of the Freshwater Lab, Citlalli has developed a passion for environmental justice and its intersection with public health and occupational safety in communities along the South Branch of the Chicago River. Citlalli resides in Pilsen, where her family has had roots for three generations. This motivates her to push further in making a community-wide impact that will improve the quality of life for all citizens of the city. As an assistant program manager at IYAI+, Citlalli has led discussions on water policy, infrastructure, and urban flooding to engage under-represented youth in Chicago. Currently, Citlalli serves as the community engagement manager for the Rio de Bienvenidad/River of Welcome art project, which will be located at Canalport Riverwalk. The project will provide communities the opportunity to reclaim the space and advocate for recreational activities that exist in other parts of the river for healthier investments

The project has received initial funding from Black Earth Institute and kayaks are being generously shared by Urban Rivers. Other partners include ¡Anímate! Studio and Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organzization (PERRO).

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