Evanston Ordinance ###-##

Since January, there has been a large debate in Evanston about passing an ordinance which would restrict landlords and city officials to inquire about a tenant's citizenship status when signing a lease to rent in Evanston. City Counsel has been unwilling to recognize this as a pressing issue that needs to be addressed any time soon. At a town hall meeting last Wednesday, the issue was not recognized by the counsel although community supporters were present. They were merely advised to write to their alderman.

Abc News7 covered the story a few months ago, when the issue was 'fresh', reporting for both sides. The video can be seen here: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=5886129

My final project was a comment on this issue, using a little bit of satire and humor. I did a "composite sketch" of four famous latino actors/singers. The faces of Ricky Martin, Enrique Iglesias, Gael Garcia-Bernal, and Mario Lopez are meshed together (a la Photoshop) to form this 'typical Latino' face who is wanted by the FBI because he attempted to illegally rent in Evanston. Just as in rough composite sketches in real Wanted Posters, I wanted to play off the idea of how social constructs define the features which make one stereotypically latino.

I posted 38 flyers in downtown Evanston and Northwestern, but especially around apartment complexes. Take a look, and tell me what you think!