Thanks to APCC Artist, You Can Own a Piece of Albany Park

“Albany Park” an Abstract

Acrylics on black board mounted 8”x10” Crescent Boards By: Mayra Era Werner

Recently APCC was forced to discontinue offering Basic Skills Technology Classes due to adecrease in government funding. This enormously popular program has helped hundreds of adults become computer literate, thereby affording them the opportunity to succeed in today's tech-driven job market. In response to this funding cut, APCC employee Mayra Era Werner has offered to auction 15 beautiful pieces of art to benefit the struggling program. It is Mayra's hope that the proceeds from this auction can help re-open the doors for this wonderful program.

The works that Mayra has created are all part of a beautifully rendered abstract of a map of the Albany Park community (shown above). This piece was then divided into fifteen equal parts, representations of smaller community areas. As Mayra describes it, "This is an abstraction of the very ethnically diverse Albany Park neighborhood. Throughout its history it has served as a gateway to prosperity. First settled by Germans and Swedes, then by Russian Jews, the neighborhood now attracts immigrants from Asia and Latin America. “My family emigrated here in 1961 from Cuba, where I attended Hibbard and Volta elementary schools and then Roosevelt High School.

Growing up then, I was more concerned with the many beautiful parks in this area, rather than with the buildings as I am now. “I have taken my abstraction of the neighborhood map of Albany Park, and cut it up into 15 equal parts to share a portion with those who would like to have a little piece of our neighborhood” ( section 1 and most of 6 are not within Albany Park) “We are all a part of the bigger picture” Mayra received her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago and her Master’s Degree in Architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology. She is currently the Director for the TIF/Neighborhood Improvement Program, for Albany Park Community Center.

A few of the 15 pieces are shown to the left. Click here to see each of the 15 pieces in this series in greater detail. If you are interested in owning one or several of these pieces, they will be auctioned off on eBay individually beginning on January 11th and closing on January 18th. Click here for links to the auction for each piece. A piece of Albany Park would be a wonderful gift for anyone who lives or has lived in this community or anyone who appreciates beautiful, unique pieces of art. In addition, your purchase benefits a very deserving program and is tax deductible.

Don't miss your opportunity to own a piece of Albany Park!

Back to Accomplishments