With fewer places for people to gather besides their homes, workplaces or schools young people are in growing need of community. So they’re turning to local arts and culture spaces to find it.
These gathering spots, often referred to as third spaces, include The Low Pressure Collective, a venue based in Pilsen that hosts a variety of creative exhibitions and events at the intersection of art, music, design and independent culture.
TLPC employee Cat Green works across several areas, including screen printing clothes, event booking, management and social media. Green said they have loved every second working at TLPC and that the space represents “collaboration and community” to them.
“It’s important because not many people have a space to go anymore,” Green said. “This is somewhere people can come to be themselves, and meet like-minded individuals. It’s somewhere to connect with people, which everyone needs more of in their life.”
Joe Suta, TLPC owner and prominent Chicago-based street artist and muralist, said he uses his work to express ideas that are “creative and positive” and wants to encourage others to do so.
“Everyone has something to be creative about,” Suta said. “Some of this might be scary to somebody that hasn’t explored this side of themselves, but I guarantee it’s in you.”
Suta was involved in Chicago’s underground scene from the 1980s to the 1990s through music and art. He cherishes how resourceful and interconnected the community was with how little was available.
“We just did our best to be a part of it,” Suta said. “We didn’t need these polished things. We didn’t have AI. We didn’t have Instagram to look at.”
TLPC also collaborates with people like Martin Atkins, an English drummer associated with Chicago’s alternative industrial music scene. Atkins opened the Museum of Post Punk and Industrial Music in Bridgeport in 2021.
These types of contributions are the focus of TLPC’s most recent exhibition, “Signal To Noise,” which highlights people who contributed greatly to the city’s underground scene through their music and art.
Among those featured are Brian Peterson, whom Suta described as a “main character” for hosting punk rock and independent shows at the Fireside Bowl in Chicago, and Francisco Ramirez, who worked as a doorman at the shows.
Handmade flyers and screen-printed posters created by Peterson and Ramirez are displayed throughout the space.
Suta fondly remembered Ramirez, who died Sept. 25. He recalled how Ramirez bought a record by Suta’s band, Raise the Red Lantern, an experience that left a lasting impression on him.
“I’ll never forget,” Suta said. “It made me feel like, ‘dude, we made it.’ Like, we’re a band’s band.”
Suta said he wants to maintain that sense of connection but recognizes that younger generations engage with art and music differently.
“We’re in a whole other era,” Suta said. “Kids are tuned in to different things now, you have to be attuned to that.”
TLPC attempts to host one or two music shows a month and an art show every month or so. They also host art markets and workshops in collaboration with the Creator Collective.
Cedrick Antonio, who participates in a TLPC’s shirt-screen printing class, said he discovered the gallery while thrifting in Pilsen. Suta, who was walking his dog at the time, encouraged him to stop by.
Antonio said he has always been curious about the fashion space and described screen printing as a “meditative process.”
“I think maybe in the future it would be cool to have a brand,” Antonio said. “But I think it’s more about learning the technical aspects and the artistry of it and just to have fun.”
Suta said what he does is important to him and hopes it will hold meaning for others. He encouraged people to pursue creative opportunities even when doing so feels unfamiliar.
“I’m not prolific. I’m not smarter than anyone. My age does not matter,” Suta said. “Step into that fear and embrace it and walk through those fires. You will get recognized.”
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