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If you've been to a cafe or bar in the Pilsen neighborhood lately you may have run into a group of young women (and sometimes men) knitting and crocheting. "El Stitch Y Bitch" is a knitting circle or sorts founded by Stephanie Manriquez and Thelma Uranga. Below Thelma answers some questions regarding the group.

For more info on the group or to participate, check out their blog: "El Stitch Y Bitch"

Tell us about the first "El Stitch Y Bitch" get together, who'd it come about?

How did you start knitting? What about it caught you're attention?

When the group gets together in public spaces what kind of reactions do you get?

There has to be many memories that people have when it comes to knitting, what are some of those stories that stand out for you?

Aside from the knitting circle, "El Stitch Y Bitch" has participated in other ways with the community, can you tell us more?

The Art of the Steal is a documentary that looks at The Barnes Foundation's amazing collection of post-Impressionist artworks and the controversy surrounding the attempts to move the collection from it's home in Lower Marion, PA, five miles up the road to Philadelphia.

We're talking about a collection that includes 181 Renoirs, 69 Cezannes, 59 Matisses, 46 Picassos, 21 Soutines, 18 Rousseaus, 16 Modiglianis, 11 Degas, 7 Van Goghs, 6 Seurats, 4 Manets and 4 Monets.  That adds up to billions and billions of dollars that a lot of people would like to control. 

The doc has been a hit on the film festival circuit, but has also caught a lot of criticism (here's a pretty even-handed review from the New York Times).  The Art of the Steal's Director and Cinematographer, Don Argott, joined us by telephone on March 10th, 2010, from a hotel room in LA to talk about the film and address the criticisms directly. 

IS IT ART OR VANDALISM ?

The Art Institute Modern Wing exterior wall was vandalized with 50 feet of graffiti on February 23, 2010.  Security surveillance tape caught 5 people quickly painting the east wall of the building.

When is it art.  When is it a criminal act ?

In 1997 a mural artist named Wyland was given permission to paint a loop building with what he describes as “A Whalen Wall”.  He is famous for murals of whales.  “The Windy Whales” was his Chicago version.  He worked with elaborate scaffolding and full city cooperation.  News media covered his daily progress.  He was a media darling.

He, like many mural artists, started painting whales as performance art.  He would find a wall and just start painting.  Now he has funding and donations and commissions.  He has become "legitimate artist."  And of course - he has been accused of being - a sell-out.  Often hawking his wares (including dolphin jewelry) on a home shopping channel.

As part of a graphic arts class in college I participated in several mural projects throughout Chicago. Part of the course was studying mural artists in other countries. Most of the revered muralists painted something that represented an emotion, a statement, a pride in the state of the country or in the state of the people. 

Taggers should be encouraged to hone their craft and perhaps look at art from other countries and the history of graffitti.

Looking at murals inside caves or pyramid is art.  Was it a way to record history before paper or was it a lone artist expressing his anger ?

 Artist, journalist and burlesque performance Chasity Chaos dropped in on Fem Weds to talk about why taking your clothes off is sexy and powerful! We started by talking about the difference between burlesque and stripping and laid out some expectations and stereotypes people have about burlesque. Lorrell K called in to talk about power structures.

We next got deeper into the Chicago burlesque scene and body and ethnicity stereotypes with Maiden Sacrifice, another Chicago performer and organizer.

Lastly, we talked about the coming movie Burlesque, with Xtina Aguilera and Cher, and how burlesque is going mainstream. Buster from Valparaiso called in to reveal his new found enthusiasm for the art.

Curator Amy Galpin talks about the National Museum of Mexican Art's latest exhibit, "Translating Revolution: US Artists Interpret Mexican Muralists".

From the museum's website, "This unique exhibition examines the influence of Mexican muralists on U.S. visual culture and the subsequent re-invention of the mural movement in the U.S. Artists from east to west gleaned inspiration from the Mexican mural in numerous ways. Some of the artists visited Mexico for months, while others stayed a lifetime and became Mexican citizens."

The exhibit runs through August 1st, 2010 at 1852 W. 19th St. Chicago IL 60608.

This audio originally aired as part of "1401", heard Fridays at 6pm on Radio Arte 90.5FM WRTE.