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'Green Chile From The Ghetto': Digital billboard art project sparks controversy
A youth art project combining digital signage and provocative slogans and imagery sparked mystery and controversy in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
June 4, 2015 by Christopher Hall
A youth art project combining digital signage and provocative slogans and imagery stirred mystery and controversy in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The mystery was solved by KRQE News 13 in Albuquerque, after the art project on digital billboards sparked social media buzz and speculation, most notably from the "Inhabitants of Burque" Facebook page:
Cool sign from downtown.
Posted by Inhabitants of Burque on Sunday, May 31, 2015
Another cool sign by downtown. I think these signs are being brought to you from a South Valley organization. From the...
Posted by Inhabitants of Burque on Sunday, May 31, 2015
According to KRQE, the "eye-catching" billboards garnered significant attention and sparked controversy over the span of about a month, with slogans such as "Green Chile From The Ghetto" or "Show Me Your Art" appearing sporadically on two digital billboards in Albuquerque.
The billboard campaign was a youth art project by non-profit arts organization Working Classroom, and students created 24 billboard images for the effort.
Lora Werito, the 16-year-old artist who came up with the image and slogan "Green Chile From The Ghetto," told the station she was trying to take ownership and pride in reinterpreting the idea of ghetto.
"I didn't mean ghetto in a negative term. I wanted to take back ghetto and use it in a more positive way, reinterpret it," she said. "South Valley is where I come from. South Valley is my home. South Valley is something that I am proud of."
Rosalie Lopez, the visual art program director at Working Classroom, said art is supposed to spur discussion, which was the main intent of the project.
Watch the full report from KRQE below:
