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“For me it’s just really emotional, to be able to share this with so many people,” Esperanza “Runsy” Rosas said. “[To] just stand back and realize how far I’ve come.”
Rosas grew up the daughter of immigrants on Chicago’s Southeast Side. She went to school for criminal justice on scholarship at the University of Illinois-Chicago, but even then—with an Art minor—she knew she wanted to draw a much different future.
For several years now, Rosas has been a professional artist. Her latest project is a t-shirt that functions as wearable art, but is also Chicago-inspired.
A chance meeting with someone from the Sueños Music Festival months ago led to this potentially life-changing collaboration.
“It was literally the proper introduction and me saying, ‘Hey, I’m an artist. If you ever need somebody to collaborate with, this is me. This is my work,’” Rosas recalled of the interaction. “I pulled up my work on my phone and said, ‘You should see it.'”
Rosas considers the moment a dream come true.
“I think the most important part of it is that Sueños is a music festival, a Latin festival. I’m first generation. I didn’t learn how to speak English until I was nine years old,” Rosas said. “If I’m able to just tap into the fact that I am Mexican [and] I am from Chicago, then there are so many things to come from that.”
On Tuesday this week, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) will launch Rosas’ limited edition t-shirt during a free event, with the sales of the shirt helping fund the MCA’s mission.
The t-shirt will also be on sale at the Sueños Music Festival.
For Rosas, it’s a proud moment for her and her family.
“When my parents came here, I don’t think their dream was for my daughter was going to be an artist. I think their dream was ‘I want my family to have a good life,'” Rosas said. “I think by me living my dream, that’s enough. I fulfilled their dream. I think doing that can better generations to come.”
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