Neighborhood Notable: the Ed Paschke Art Center

I was born and raised in the Jefferson Park neighborhood of Chicago. Although I love where I grew up, it's not a place known for hot tourist spots. For the most part, the neighborhood is very residential with some restaurants and local businesses thrown in the mix. The one element of culture that has been added in recent years is the Ed Paschke Art Center.

Ed Paschke was a Polish American painter who spent most of his life in Chicago. Unlike most artists who move to New York to expand their career, Paschke had a genuine love and connection towards the city where he was raised and stayed there throughout his career. He earned a local celebrity uncommon in artists and even has an honorary street named after him. He's quite an exemplary man, and Jefferson Park is lucky enough to house a large collection of his work.

I find Paschke's work remarkable for its visual stimulation and depiction of the human form. His color scheme always has a certain vibrancy that is able to capture my attention for hours. As such, I found it very easy to wander the Art Center, which largely houses his works, for a very long time. Even as someone who isn't necessarily an art-lover, I was transfixed by his work, as I feel others will be.

Along with Paschke's work, the center hosts exhibitions of other local artists. Not only that, but artists are free to use the center to create in. I remember walking in my first time and finding a man painting and hanging wires in the basement. It was odd at first, but I loved that the center was making efforts to support artistic expression in a relatively unartistic community. I love and appreciate what the center has done for my community, and hope it sticks around for many years to come.

For more information on the Ed Paschke Art Center, visit http://www.edpaschke.com/