Jeff Phillips & Dorian Sylvain: The BMO Harris x CPS Lives Mural, Summer 2020
Project Overview
“Art can tell stories and change narratives,” says Suzette Bross, Executive Director of CPS Lives. “This mural is an expression of giving back to the community and showing the good in humanity.”
In June 2020, a group of Chicago students transformed the temporary plywood used to cover BMO Harris Bank’s main branch during protests into a work of art that expresses messages of hope and unity, representing the opportunity we all have to create a more inclusive community together.
As protests erupted across Chicago – and the country – and thousands of Chicagoans demonstrated peacefully, CPS Lives and BMO Harris Bank were eager to find ways to support our communities and stand against racial inequality and injustice. BMO – a longstanding supporter of both Chicago’s public schools and the city’s arts community – reached out to CPS Lives and asked if they wanted to create artwork on the plywood around the branch.
“BMO’s values of fairness, equality and inclusion perfectly align with ours,” says Suzette, who founded CPS Lives, a non-profit organization that creates artist residencies in Chicago Public Schools to share honest and positive stories about public schools. Local artists partner with a Chicago Public School during the academic year to collaborate on a project. The art they create gives young people in Chicago a platform to speak about their hopes, dreams, and ideas.
“There are 400,000 students in the CPS system, and many people in the city don’t know anything about them,” says Jeff Phillips, a local artist who works with CPS Lives. “This was an opportunity to give the students their own voice – in a really public way.”
Amplifying voices
Like protest, art can give a louder voice to people who aren’t being heard. The recent protests have given voice to people from all walks of life, joining together to demand change to make society more just and inclusive. Similarly, this group of Chicago Public School students and artists created a powerful public art project to send a message of their own.
“Protest and public art are similar expressions. They’re both a personal statement of values,” says Dorian Sylvain, a Chicago artist and CPS Lives collaborator. “Displaying art in the public spaces goes beyond aesthetics. It creates dialogue – and it’s human nature to want to be heard.”
Suzette reached out to Jeff and Dorian to collaborate, and they quickly got to work on a proposal and a design. Together, they came up with the idea of a mural made up of images and photos from CPS Lives artists and CPS schools, highlighting the proud academic achievements of graduating students – and surrounded by images of life at public schools across the city.
“Highlighting all these beautiful young faces that are usually somewhat anonymous – it not only empowers the kids who see themselves on that mural, but also other people who are like them. That can be very validating,” says Dorian.
Jeff agrees. “We wanted to evoke something positive and emotional, and to do what art is supposed to do – reflect the everyday in a new light.”
A creative collective
Titled “If I Could Show the World,” the mural was named and assembled by students from more than 20 Chicago public schools participating in the CPS Lives program. Hyde Park Art Center donated its space, and more than 75 people came together to create the murals, including students who chose to spend their first day of summer vacation there.
“The experience was festive. We had music playing, it was a beautiful day, the students came in and they brought their friends. We just had a good time,” says Dorian. “The spirit of collective work, and the gratification of producing something together that one person couldn’t have done on their own – it’s so empowering. Sharing, listening, learning from each other – all those principles come out when we work together.”
“It was one of the best experiences of my life,” says Jeff. “To see these kids creating together, and hearing them say things like ‘I feel like an artist’ – it was incredible.”
Inclusion and equality
CPS Lives is the first of several non-profits that will create art for BMO’s main branch windows over the coming months, serving as a visual reminder to continue our progress toward a more inclusive society. The art will be displayed in neighborhoods across Chicago as it rotates out of the bank’s windows.
BMO believes this is not a time to be silent. We will always stand up for a more just society where all people are valued equally. These murals are part of our pledge to speak up for what’s right, and to create space for other voices to be heard.
“Art is such a powerful and direct way to express hope and optimism,” says Jeff. “Public art speaks to the community. The message spreads. If you create something interesting and beautiful, you invite people in to learn more about your world – and that can make all the difference.”
BMO is committed to zero barriers to inclusion, and we strive for that vision by supporting real financial progress for our customers and communities.
Read about BMO’s recent $10 million donation through the United Way of Metro Chicago as part of Chicago’s Invest South/West initiative, our recent donation to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Equal Justice Initiative, the Canadian Anti-Hate Network and Greater Twin Cities United Way, to support social and racial justice, and inclusion.
Learn more about community giving at BMO.
And please, consider donating to CPS Lives as we take on our next endeavors.
Meet the Artist
Jeff Phillips
Portrait by Devina Yoestong
Jeff Phillips is a Chicago-based photographic artist who has been passionate about photography for more than 35 years. He serves as a member of the board of directors of Filter Photo, and for the past nine years has helped produce the annual Filter Photo Festival. His photographs have been exhibited and published internationally through a variety of media channels including books, newspapers, and magazines. Phillips has presented and lectured about his work at South by Southwest (SXSW), Society for Photographic Education (SPE), ASMP Midwest, and other venues including Pecha Kucha in Chicago and at Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis. Phillips is the creator of Lost and Found: The Search for Harry and Edna (harryandedna.com), a vernacular photography and social media experiment that became a traveling exhibition and subsequently received international media attention for its content and production.
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Jeff Phillips is a Chicago-based photographic artist who has been passionate about photography for more than 35 years. He serves as a member of the board of directors of Filter Photo, and for the past nine years has helped produce the annual Filter Photo Festival. His photographs have been exhibited and published internationally through a variety of media channels including books, newspapers, and magazines. Phillips has presented and lectured about his work at South by Southwest (SXSW), Society for Photographic Education (SPE), ASMP Midwest, and other venues including Pecha Kucha in Chicago and at Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis. Phillips is the creator of Lost and Found: The Search for Harry and Edna (harryandedna.com), a vernacular photography and social media experiment that became a traveling exhibition and subsequently received international media attention for its content and production.
Visit their Website
Portrait by Devina Yoestong
Meet the Artist
Dorian Sylvain
Portrait by Devina Yoestong
Dorian Sylvain is a painter, an interpreter of color; exploring color as it influences her feelings, enhances texture and pattern and how it can be used to exploit imagery. Ms. Sylvain’s painting has crossed many disciplines; studio painting, scenic design, mural painting, decorative arts, education, curation and community planning. For the past three decades she has been committed to the creation of public art projects that expose children and communities to art making, providing a group experience that elevates the neighborhoods aesthetic understanding. Recently awarded “Arts & Culture: Connecting Communities to the Arts” (2013) from the University of Chicago and the South East Commission, recognizing her outstanding work and committed service. In addition, her Decorative Arts Studio has been creating largescale custom painted walls and canvas’ for private clients for over twenty years.
Visit their WebsiteDorian Sylvain is a painter, an interpreter of color; exploring color as it influences her feelings, enhances texture and pattern and how it can be used to exploit imagery. Ms. Sylvain’s painting has crossed many disciplines; studio painting, scenic design, mural painting, decorative arts, education, curation and community planning. For the past three decades she has been committed to the creation of public art projects that expose children and communities to art making, providing a group experience that elevates the neighborhoods aesthetic understanding. Recently awarded “Arts & Culture: Connecting Communities to the Arts” (2013) from the University of Chicago and the South East Commission, recognizing her outstanding work and committed service. In addition, her Decorative Arts Studio has been creating largescale custom painted walls and canvas’ for private clients for over twenty years.
Visit their Website
Portrait by Devina Yoestong
Meet the Artist
Marzena Abrahamik
Image Credit Marzena Abrahamik
I am an American artist, driven by photography’s ability to change our visual sensibility. I am visually inspired by personal histories, attachments to unachievable and necessary for survival fantasies, to further investigate communal formations and transformations. I work through photographic series where images are anchored in historical and autobiographical events. My cultural heritage informs me as an artist and educator, and my biography is a motivating resource that provides insight and empathy to otherwise abstracted issues. I was born in Poland, grew up in Greece and for the past ten years, I have been working as a professional artist and educator in Chicago, IL.
http://www.marzena-abrahamik.com
Visit their WebsiteI am an American artist, driven by photography’s ability to change our visual sensibility. I am visually inspired by personal histories, attachments to unachievable and necessary for survival fantasies, to further investigate communal formations and transformations. I work through photographic series where images are anchored in historical and autobiographical events. My cultural heritage informs me as an artist and educator, and my biography is a motivating resource that provides insight and empathy to otherwise abstracted issues. I was born in Poland, grew up in Greece and for the past ten years, I have been working as a professional artist and educator in Chicago, IL.
http://www.marzena-abrahamik.com
Visit their Website
Image Credit Marzena Abrahamik
Meet the Artist
Lynn Renee Persin
Portrait by Abbi Chase
Having studied photography at the University of Michigan, Lynn Renee Persin has been a part of the Chicago photographic community for over 20 years. Her work has been exhibited at the now defunct Around the Coyote festivals in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood where she picked up a curator’s choice award from Tricia Van Eck, then the associate curator for the Museum of Contemporary Art. In addition she was a chosen artist for The Artist Project, an exhibition that accompanied Chicago’s Art Expo in the Merchandise Mart.
Currently Lynn supports her family in her chosen career of photography, partnering with local non-profits to provide event and marketing photography. Her work is often featured on billboards and bus stops throughout the city and surrounding suburbs, and she spends her evenings photographing fundraisers, her daytimes photographing school programs, and in the summer you can find her up at summer camp hanging out of a canoe with two camera bodies strapped to her chest. And in her free time you can often find her setting up a picnic in the park with her husband, 8 year old son, and her dog named, “Sox.”
https://www.lynnreneephoto.com/index
Visit their WebsiteHaving studied photography at the University of Michigan, Lynn Renee Persin has been a part of the Chicago photographic community for over 20 years. Her work has been exhibited at the now defunct Around the Coyote festivals in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood where she picked up a curator’s choice award from Tricia Van Eck, then the associate curator for the Museum of Contemporary Art. In addition she was a chosen artist for The Artist Project, an exhibition that accompanied Chicago’s Art Expo in the Merchandise Mart.
Currently Lynn supports her family in her chosen career of photography, partnering with local non-profits to provide event and marketing photography. Her work is often featured on billboards and bus stops throughout the city and surrounding suburbs, and she spends her evenings photographing fundraisers, her daytimes photographing school programs, and in the summer you can find her up at summer camp hanging out of a canoe with two camera bodies strapped to her chest. And in her free time you can often find her setting up a picnic in the park with her husband, 8 year old son, and her dog named, “Sox.”
https://www.lynnreneephoto.com/index
Visit their Website
Portrait by Abbi Chase
Meet the Artist
Janet Mesic-Mackie
Portrait by Devina Yoestong
Janet Mesic Mackie has been a professional photographer for over 30 years, and has honed a vision and body of work that is informed by her love of nature, of form, and her training as a visual artist. “In recent years, my work has moved in a direction that emphasizes the beauty of form found all around us. From landscapes to portraits and images of horses, I look to capture the essence and vitality in the natural world.” As an editorial photographer, Mesic Mackie’s work has appeared in Elle Décor, Veranda, Interiors Magazine, and House Beautiful, among others. She has also been included in numerous interior design books. Janet Mesic-Mackie has a Bachelors degree in Printmaking and Photography from the University of Oregon. She lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
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Janet Mesic Mackie has been a professional photographer for over 30 years, and has honed a vision and body of work that is informed by her love of nature, of form, and her training as a visual artist. “In recent years, my work has moved in a direction that emphasizes the beauty of form found all around us. From landscapes to portraits and images of horses, I look to capture the essence and vitality in the natural world.” As an editorial photographer, Mesic Mackie’s work has appeared in Elle Décor, Veranda, Interiors Magazine, and House Beautiful, among others. She has also been included in numerous interior design books. Janet Mesic-Mackie has a Bachelors degree in Printmaking and Photography from the University of Oregon. She lives and works in Chicago, Illinois.
Visit their Website
Portrait by Devina Yoestong
Meet the Artist
Justin Schmitz
Justin Schmitz is a Chicago-based photographer. He is the recipient of the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship, The Tierney Fellowship, City of Chicago CAAP Grant, Albert P. Weisman Scholarship, and The Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Scholarship. A collection of his work was part of the Mid-West Photographers Project at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. He was runner-up for the Photography Book Now Prize, and a finalist for the Honickman First Book Prize.
Visit their WebsiteJustin Schmitz is a Chicago-based photographer. He is the recipient of the Toby Devan Lewis Fellowship, The Tierney Fellowship, City of Chicago CAAP Grant, Albert P. Weisman Scholarship, and The Union League Civic and Arts Foundation Scholarship. A collection of his work was part of the Mid-West Photographers Project at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. He was runner-up for the Photography Book Now Prize, and a finalist for the Honickman First Book Prize.
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Meet the Artist
Doug McGoldrick
Portrait by Abbi Chase
I was born in Princeton, NJ, but raised in a suburb of Minneapolis. I grew up sailing in the summer and cross country skiing in the winter, in the spring and fall my dad and I would go out and take pictures. I have a masters degree from the University of Wisconsin Madison, but I still can’t spell to save my life. I live in a quaint burg just outside the city limits of Chicago. I’ve worked for companies as large as International Paper and as small as some local free newspaper you find in a coffee shop. I can handle any job you can throw at me – as long as I don’t have to spell much. And I love anything that gets me traveling.
Visit their WebsiteI was born in Princeton, NJ, but raised in a suburb of Minneapolis. I grew up sailing in the summer and cross country skiing in the winter, in the spring and fall my dad and I would go out and take pictures. I have a masters degree from the University of Wisconsin Madison, but I still can’t spell to save my life. I live in a quaint burg just outside the city limits of Chicago. I’ve worked for companies as large as International Paper and as small as some local free newspaper you find in a coffee shop. I can handle any job you can throw at me – as long as I don’t have to spell much. And I love anything that gets me traveling.
Visit their Website
Portrait by Abbi Chase
Meet the Artist
Scott Fortino
Portrait by Devina Yoestong
Scott Fortino developed his approach to photography out of experiences directly related to his position as a Chicago police officer. This work led to the publication of his monograph, Institutional, which depicted seemingly impersonal architectural spaces while revealing the embedded evidence of personal use. He received his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a BA from Columbia College Chicago. He has had solo exhibitions in Chicago at the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Contemporary Photography. His work is in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Milwaukee Art Museum, Worcester Art Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, and numerous public and private collections. He lives and works in Chicago.
Visit their WebsiteScott Fortino developed his approach to photography out of experiences directly related to his position as a Chicago police officer. This work led to the publication of his monograph, Institutional, which depicted seemingly impersonal architectural spaces while revealing the embedded evidence of personal use. He received his MFA from the University of Illinois at Chicago and a BA from Columbia College Chicago. He has had solo exhibitions in Chicago at the Museum of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Contemporary Photography. His work is in the collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, Milwaukee Art Museum, Worcester Art Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Photography, and numerous public and private collections. He lives and works in Chicago.
Visit their Website
Portrait by Devina Yoestong
Meet the Artist
Matt Siber
Matt Siber (b.1972) is a Chicago-based visual artist working in photography, digital imaging, video, installation and sculpture. With an MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago, he has had solo exhibitions in Madrid, Berlin and Chicago among other venues. His first monograph, Idol Structures, was published by the DePaul Art Museum, Chicago in 2015. His artwork is part of many private and public permanent collections including The Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, and The Bidwell Foundation. His work has been published internationally in publications including ArtForum, Sculpture Magazine, Flash Art, Aperture and EXIT Magazine. He has received grants from the David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation, the Aaron Siskind Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council. Siber is Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Photography Department of The School of The Art Institute of Chicago.
Visit their WebsiteMatt Siber (b.1972) is a Chicago-based visual artist working in photography, digital imaging, video, installation and sculpture. With an MFA in Photography from Columbia College Chicago, he has had solo exhibitions in Madrid, Berlin and Chicago among other venues. His first monograph, Idol Structures, was published by the DePaul Art Museum, Chicago in 2015. His artwork is part of many private and public permanent collections including The Art Institute of Chicago, The Museum of Contemporary Photography, and The Bidwell Foundation. His work has been published internationally in publications including ArtForum, Sculpture Magazine, Flash Art, Aperture and EXIT Magazine. He has received grants from the David C. and Sarajean Ruttenberg Arts Foundation, the Aaron Siskind Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council. Siber is Assistant Adjunct Professor in the Photography Department of The School of The Art Institute of Chicago.
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Meet the Artist
Jim Iska
Jim Iska has been photographing the urban scene for over thirty years. After graduating from the Institute of Design in Chicago in 1980, Iska’s work has revolved around on architecture from the classic to the vernacular, and its integral role in defining the city. He collaborated with author and historian Francis Morrone on a series of architectural guidebooks of New York City, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn in the 1990s. Iska also produced contemporary photography for the first and second editions ofThe City in a Garden: A History of Chicago’s Parks by Julia S. Bachrach. He is currently the author of the blog “In and About the City.”
Visit their WebsiteJim Iska has been photographing the urban scene for over thirty years. After graduating from the Institute of Design in Chicago in 1980, Iska’s work has revolved around on architecture from the classic to the vernacular, and its integral role in defining the city. He collaborated with author and historian Francis Morrone on a series of architectural guidebooks of New York City, Philadelphia, and Brooklyn in the 1990s. Iska also produced contemporary photography for the first and second editions ofThe City in a Garden: A History of Chicago’s Parks by Julia S. Bachrach. He is currently the author of the blog “In and About the City.”
Visit their WebsiteMeet the Artist
Suzette Bross
Portrait by Devina Yoestong
Suzette Bross is a photographer living and working in Chicago, Illinois. Her work is in the permanent collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the New Britain Museum of American Art, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art and more. With an MFA from the Institute of Design at IIT, Bross has taught at Columbia College Chicago, the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and the Northwestern University Medical School. Her work has been exhibited internationally and across the United States. Bross was commissioned by Northwestern Memorial Hospital to create a permanent portrait series of Chicago women and was also included in the Cleveland Museums of Art’s “DIY: Photographers & Books” show. Bross has exhibited her Walks series in a solo show at Geary Contemporary in New York City, NY and the group exhibition, titled Alien Nation, at Lehman, College Art Gallery in Bronx, New York. Her series, For the Glass, was featured in solo exhibitions at the Chicago Artists Coalition and Lehman Arts Center in North Andover, MA, Geary Contemporary booth at EXPO Chicago 2016, and as the first exhibition in the Chicago Google Artist Initiative. In 2016, she began collaborating with Suzanne Hanney at StreetWise Magazine creating photo-essays about Chicago’s Uptown Tent City residents.
Visit their WebsiteSuzette Bross is a photographer living and working in Chicago, Illinois. Her work is in the permanent collections of The Art Institute of Chicago, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Museum of Contemporary Photography in Chicago, the New Britain Museum of American Art, Mary and Leigh Block Museum of Art and more. With an MFA from the Institute of Design at IIT, Bross has taught at Columbia College Chicago, the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and the Northwestern University Medical School. Her work has been exhibited internationally and across the United States. Bross was commissioned by Northwestern Memorial Hospital to create a permanent portrait series of Chicago women and was also included in the Cleveland Museums of Art’s “DIY: Photographers & Books” show. Bross has exhibited her Walks series in a solo show at Geary Contemporary in New York City, NY and the group exhibition, titled Alien Nation, at Lehman, College Art Gallery in Bronx, New York. Her series, For the Glass, was featured in solo exhibitions at the Chicago Artists Coalition and Lehman Arts Center in North Andover, MA, Geary Contemporary booth at EXPO Chicago 2016, and as the first exhibition in the Chicago Google Artist Initiative. In 2016, she began collaborating with Suzanne Hanney at StreetWise Magazine creating photo-essays about Chicago’s Uptown Tent City residents.
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Portrait by Devina Yoestong
