The Global Canvas: Projeto Igarai

Since the continuous growth of Projeto Igarai since the Spring of 2009, we have continued to add onto our collection of artists and supporters that are interested in the cause. This page is an introduction, as well as a dedication to the people that have chosen to immerse themselves with the arts, alongside a variety of international spread of urban youth.

Jonathan D. Neumann

Jonathan is a native of Chicago as he grew up and resides on the south side of the city. From a young age, he was highly interested in the various genres of art, including graffiti. Keeping fine art concepts in relation to his own practices, he has continued to fuel his interest of urban art forms and the positive effects they encourage.

Jonathan is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where he pursued his BFA with an emphasis in Art Education. His role in The Global Canvas: Projeto Igarai is as Lead Studio Facilitator. Here, he will contribute his knowledge of Hip Hop concepts to create a studio space for the teens to explore their creativity. Break dancing, graffiti influenced art, mural painting and community partnerships are methods in which he plans to achieve in this project.

Isac Enriquez

Isac is a Chicago native. He was born and raised in the southwest side of the city. He has now come together with his fellow artists, family, and friends, and created Brighten Arts, a not for profit inner city arts group. The goal of the group is to encourage and enrich the lives of the youth in the inner city through positive influences, community building, and the arts.

At age 22, Isac is a graduate of the school of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he also completed his BFA w/emphasis in Art Education. He hopes to one day open a community arts center and further expand the role of the arts within his community and education system.

Carmelita Croce

Carmelita is a senior at the State University of Sao Paulo, where she studies Social Sciences with an emphasis in Sociology. For her graduating project, she has combined her passion of dance into her research. She writes her thesis “about a dancer named Isadora Duncan and how her revolutionary dance and beliefs were a reflection on the European society during the late 1800′s to early 1900′s.”

During the day she works at a local elementary school where she teaches dance to young people. Her dream is to help them to become “more conscious of and connected to the arts / music, and to be self aware of their bodies in order to become spiritually free and open minded as adults.” Carmelita’s role in Projeto Igarai will be as dance instructor, while collaborating with Isac & Jonathan for break dancing workshops.

Silvia Barretto

Silvia is an author and publisher, Co-founder of Fazenda Ambiental Fortaleza (FAF) Since 2001, Silvia and her husband Marcos have administered the 2000 acre Estate Coffee Farm in Sao Paulo, Brazil, working towards turning it into a model of a sustainable farm. They developed FAF as a meeting place for groups to discuss such topics as alternative agriculture methods, quality of life based on the food we eat, alternative methods of work relationship with employees, and water and green preservation.

Drea Howenstein

Artist/educator, Drea Howenstein, actively explores creative strategies for involving people in the urban environment, and she facilitates design processes with, by and for communities that actualize projects addressing ecological and social sustainability. Howenstein holds several degrees in art, design and education, including an interdisciplinary MFA from Bard College, an MA in Art and k-12 art certification from Edinboro University, and she has years of experience working in public art, landscape design, environmental education and using all kinds of materials to make things with people of all ages.

Howenstein is a tenured professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where she teaches a wide range of public practice courses that prepare artists and designers to do projects in the real world, such as Site/Environment/Community; Art on Location, Design for Sustainability, and an exhibition studies course working with students at The South Side Community Art Center in Bronzeville. Last summer, she took a group of students to 3 cities in Brazil, to study Critical Spatial Practices, urban design and innovative art & design projects.

Brendan Hudson

Brendan is a graduate of the School of the Art Institute with a strong focus on large scale realism and urban flare. His work can be seen all over Chicago as he continues to build a visual dialogue and connect communities to the art world. He possesses a strong connection to the culture of Brazil and to the communities he works with nation-wide.