As the new face of the Christopher Gallery at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Javier Chavira hopes to use the space to showcase the region’s diversity while offering students and the surrounding community an opportunity to enjoy the thought-provoking art close to home.
Chavira, a seasoned fine arts professor and artist in the south suburbs, was an easy choice to direct the gallery, a college official said.
“Javier immediately stood out among the candidates for his experience in the art world, as well as his connection to higher education as an instructor and as a gallery director,” said Jeri A. Bingham, vice president of External Affairs. “He had numerous ideas about what he could bring to Prairie State College including various forms of art — some that our audiences had never been exposed to.
“He talked about bringing variety and different points of view by introducing our audiences to young, up and coming artists, artists of color, and established artists,” she said.
Chavira started in his new part-time role over the summer.
“I’m a strong believer in diversity, equity and inclusion, so one of my goals is to show artists of color,” Chavira said. “One of my goals is to make this gallery better known to the community, make it more welcoming.”
He plans to collaborate with area art organizations, including Southland Arts in Park Forest, Tall Grass Arts Association in Park Forest, Frankfort Arts Association, and Union Street Gallery in Chicago Heights “just to have more of a presence with arts groups.”
He’s taking over for retiring gallery director Beth Shadur, who already has planned out this year’s exhibits. Chavira, who lives in Park Forest with his wife, Sarah, and daughter, Paloma, will be curating exhibits, placing and installing art in the gallery, and meeting installers and artists in advance of the 2025 school year. But he’s already started in his new role, helping to set up and then greet people at a recent exhibit opening.
Chavira grew up in Joliet and his parents are from Mexico. He received his bachelor of arts and master of arts from Governors State and master of fine arts from Northern Illinois University.
Being an art gallery director isn’t new to Chavira, who had that role at Governor State University for seven or eight years, after he began teaching there in the early 2000s. He and several colleagues also had their own art gallery in Chicago.
But teaching and all the responsibilities that come with it made it difficult to keep up with gallery directing.
“When you start teaching, you say yes to everything because you have to perform,” said Chavira, a tenured fine arts professor at GSU. “I kind of got burned out doing that and focused on teaching,” Chavira said.
The Prairie State job offered a chance to return to something he enjoyed.
“I thought it would be a great opportunity to get back into it,” he said.
Still, taking time for his own art is a must, which includes “mixed-media drawings and lighted ceramic sculptures.”
“I go through phases, sometimes figurative representation, then … abstraction,” said Chavira. “I believe an artist has to be versatile.”
He has an exhibit at Edith Farnsworth House in Plano, “Within Nature/Dentro La Naturaleza.” He also worked with staff and the Mexican Cultural Center DuPage and Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education on an arts workshop for elementary school children and parents, which included follow-up visits to the house, explained Scott Mehaffy, executive director at the Farnsworth House.
“His collage paintings and encaustic rondels have really enlivened our gallery and his handcrafted ceramic lamps looked gorgeous in the house,” Mehaffy said. “Everyone loved Javier’s relaxed and encouraging approach to workshop facilitation and were excited to see his installations at our site.”
Art faculty at Prairie State say they’re glad he’s there.
“We are very excited that Javier Chavira has joined us this fall,” said Paul Rinaldi, professor/coordinator of Fine Arts, who has known Chavira for years. “He is an outstanding visual artist with strong experience curating exhibitions.
“Javier’s curatorial work will benefit not only our art majors, but students across the college and our entire community!” Rinaldi said.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
