WHO WE ARE
18th Street Casa de Cultura is an organization of artists, musicians, educators, and advocates dedicated to honoring and cultivating the legacy of cultural and artistic expression rooted in generational practices of Chicago’s Mexicano - Latino community by utilizing ancestral cultural conocimiento or knowledge.
MISSION
To enhance our communities’ quality of life and contribute to their healing by engaging them in cultural practices, traditions, and artistic expressions in order to restore the dignity communities of color are innately born with.
VISION
For our communities to be culturally rooted, healthy, and thriving.
OUR FRAMEWORK
Culture is Knowledge: Our community members hold an abundance of knowledge and skill sets found in their everyday cultural practices and rituals.
Culture is Healing: Engaging in the practice of sustainable cultural identity is actively engaging in the process of decolonization, and provides us with the tools needed for healing and transformation.
Culture is Power: Cultural identity is our moral compass; it’s what gives us a sense of belonging, and what connects us to others.
Culture is Sovereignty: We have the right to learn, define and practice our cultural identity in and outside the home, and in relation to others.
OUR APPROACHES
Art: Utilizing art and music as a way of engaging community and nurturing the creative spirit and expression
Culture: Ensuring our community’s cultural identity is the focal point of all programming
Education: Prioritizing opportunities for everyday decolonial learning and unlearning
Language Diversity: Centering usage of heritage and indigenous language, honoring authenticity and maximizing communication potential
