Skip to content
Musivum: The Museum of Mosaic Environments logo
Substack Streamline Icon: https://streamlinehq.com Substack Facebook Instagram
  • The Museum
    • Mission
    • Vision
    • Values
    • Code of Ethics
    • Provenance and Acquisitions Policy
    • Artist Compensation and Attribution Standards
    • Research & Publications
    • The School of Mosaic Environments
    • The Definition of Mosaic
  • The Founder
    • About Rachael Que Vargas
    • Founder Field Notes
    • Artist Statement
    • Curriculum Vitae
  • Collections
    • Anatomy Set in Stone
    • Radio Ancestrale
    • The Sacred Body
    • The Ground in Motion
  • Galleries
  • Contact
  • Help/FAQ
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
  • The Museum
    • Mission
    • Vision
    • Values
    • Code of Ethics
    • Provenance and Acquisitions Policy
    • Artist Compensation and Attribution Standards
    • Research & Publications
    • The School of Mosaic Environments
    • The Definition of Mosaic
  • The Founder
    • About Rachael Que Vargas
    • Founder Field Notes
    • Artist Statement
    • Curriculum Vitae
  • Collections
    • Anatomy Set in Stone
    • Radio Ancestrale
    • The Sacred Body
    • The Ground in Motion
  • Galleries
  • Contact
  • Help/FAQ
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
Community Harmony Through Song & Play, Panel 1: Music, 2001 Ceramic mosaic on wood substrate. 66″ H x 48″ W x 2″ D Public Art Commission

Commissioned Artworks

Commissions are always an interesting collaboration. Frequently, the subject matter is something I might not have explored on my own, which can bring a freshness to the work. The finished work will always be a marriage of ideas you bring me and my own style and design sensibility.

Commissioned work begins with a conversation. The more you can share about your ideas, the better. With custom work, the focus is all about making sure you get exactly what you’re looking for.

It’s important to spend time developing the design together, before ordering material or starting the project. We’ll discuss the idea over the phone, and possibly collaborate on image research for the subject matter. I may ask you to try drawing your idea or sending photos that describe it.

I tend to be extremely research driven when doing new work. I like to look at (literally) thousands of images of how similar subject matter has been rendered by others. Once I see trends and patterns, it’s easier to bring a fresh approach to the work.

Community Harmony Through Song & Play, Panel 1: Music, 2001 Ceramic mosaic on wood substrate. 66″ H x 48″ W x 2″ D Public Art Commission
Community Harmony Through Song & Play, Panel 1: Music

Community Harmony Through Song & Play, Panel 1: Music, 2001Ceramic

Read More
Community Harmony Through Song & Play, Panel 2: Arts and History

Community Harmony Through Song & Play, Panel 2: Arts and

Read More
Community Harmony Through Song & Play, Panel 3: Peace in the Park

Community Harmony Through Song & Play Panel 3 In the park a band plays, a man and woman dance, a child jumps to catch the notes in the air…. A man sells balloons and children get sno-cones from a pushcart vendor, a common sight in North Lawndale…. Community Harmony Through Song & Play: panel 3, 2001: ceramic tile on wood substrate 66″ x 48″ x 2″ One of three mosaics created for Manly Career Academy High School in Chicago’s North Lawndale neighborhood. Assisted by Caswell James and advised by veteran muralist Nina Smoot-Cain, I worked with a team of nine community youths to design and produce three mosaic panels totaling 66 sqare feet. Commission sponsored by Chicago Public Art Group with support from Gallery 37 and the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development.

Read More
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
  • Manage options
  • Manage services
  • Manage {vendor_count} vendors
  • Read more about these purposes
View preferences
  • {title}
  • {title}
  • {title}