Gallery 210 Panel Discussion & Exhibition!

From Gallery 210 @ UMSL:ALL-AMERICAN: JESUS MACARENA-AVILATHURSDAY October 22 - December 5, 2009Gallery 210 is proud to present the ALL-AMERICAN: JESUS MACARENA-AVILA, an art project concentrating on the idea of "community building." Distinguished Chicano art historian and scholar, Victor Alejandro Sorell will write the exhibition essay.
In Chicago, Illinois, Macarena-Avila works as a community based arts educator with many social service organizations. He serves as a faculty member with the Art Education Department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, the Liberal Education Department at Columbia College Chicago. Macarena-Avila is the co-founder of POLVO, an alternative cultural space promoting contemporary art in Chicago.
The artist's main aim of this exhibition is to challenge viewers to see what has happened to American 'values.' They depict their insight of 'America' with contemporary art practices like installation work or digital video. You will reconsider what American values are through their conceptual language to represent their 'American' perspective. Are they decaying? Are they based on mythical identity? Or is it all about cultural assimilation: baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and Chevrolet.
The project functions in four components: 1) "Tell It Like it Is" (video installation); 2) "Melting Pot" (installation work that re-defines the American cultural landscape); 3) "Community Building" (documentation of art residency between Art Dimensions [ArtD] and an interactive campus project "drive"); and 4) "Revision" (a mini-exhibit of books re-addressing American identity and history values).
OCTOBER 22 AT 6 PM: The panel discussion "Got Community? Defining Community Art and the Teaching Artist" with panelists Jesus-Macarena-Avila, Andrea Richardson, Fabio Rodriquez, and moderator Dr. Louis E. Lankford will start at 6:00 PM. A reception for the artist will follow immediately after the panel until 8:00 PM.
All of the Gallery 210 events are free and open to the public. Public parking for Gallery 210 is available at the South Millennium Parking garage on the east side of East Drive on the UM-St. Louis Campus. Handicapped parking is available behind Gallery 210. Gallery 210 is also within easy walking distance from the MetroLink Station.
This exhibition is supported in part by grants from the Regional Arts Commission and the Missouri Arts Council with additional assistance from the Center for Humanities at UM-St. Louis.

Gallery 210 is on the University of Missouri-St. Louis at 44 East Drive, TCC between the North UM-St. Louis Metro Station and Touhill Performing Arts Center. The gallery is open Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The gallery phone is (314) 516-5976; the fax is (314) 516-4997; and email is gallery@jinx.umsl.edu. For parking locations, directions, and campus map please visit http://www.umsl.edu/~gallery/