University YMCA · 1001 S. Wright St., Champaign, IL 61820
Visit universityymca.orgMuralist José Vazquez opened the fall 2026 Friday Forum x Conversation Cafe series with Mandy Danowitz, Youth Employment Services supervisor for Champaign Unit 4 Schools, who described a summer project in which about 42 Centennial High School students painted a stairwell mural with Vazquez. Vazquez then traced his path from Guanajuato, Mexico, to Chicago's Little Village and the DC5 (Devcon 5) graffiti crew, through concept art for video game studios, to community murals across Champaign-Urbana. A Y board member and Art @ the Y gallery committee member introduced the speakers and noted the accompanying Murphy Gallery exhibition of Vazquez's mural prints.
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