Rafael Nieves | Welcome Home | August 2 - November 14, 2024
Welcome Home, Riverside, 2012, Digital art, 17 x 11 inches
Exhibition Dates: August 2 - November 14, 2024
Riverside Town Hall: 27 Riverside Road, Riverside, Illinois 60546
Viewing Hours: Monday – Thursday 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, Friday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Artist Reception: Sunday, September 8, 2024, 3:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Join us afterwards for a private happy hour at the Quincy Street Distillery
The Riverside Arts Center is pleased to present local designer, Raphael Nieves’ exhibition of graphic posters at the Riverside Town Hall. Please join us for a reception for the artist on Sunday, September 8, 2024 from 3-6pm. The Town Hall is located at 27 Riverside Road, a short block from the Riverside Arts Center. Refreshments will be served in RAC’s sculpture garden. Afterwards, join us for a private happy hour of artisanal spirits across the street at the Quincy Street Distillery.
Welcome Home, North Riverside, Digital art, 17 x 11 inches
What is “home”? The place you were born. The town you grew up in. The village where you settled with family.
And where is home? According to the Temptations, it’s wherever Papa laid his hat. But it could also be that house you grew up in. That fountain where you professed your love to your partner. That school you went to or escaped from.
The Welcome Home series is about nostalgia. It’s about roots. It’s about memories of a time and place that had a significance to you. It’s about love and life.
Often at shows, a potential customer will pore over my displayed prints and reminisce about the images that are presented; “Oh, I went to school in Riverside. My parents lived in Berwyn. My spouse was born in Oak Park. I loved going to the zoo in Brookfield. I remember Kiddieland in Melrose Park.”
I don’t identify the landmarks or buildings in my prints. I don’t have to. If you lived or loved or left a town, you’ll recognize the image and you’ll remember what it meant to you.
Parents will buy a print for their child who is going to school in another state, to remind them where they came from. Children will buy a print for their parents who would regale them with stories of the town they grew up in. And real estate agents will buy prints for their clients who are buying or selling their home in a particular village, to give them a memento or a sense of place.
The Welcome Home series is about location. It’s about memory. It’s about hometown pride. It’s about all of us, where we come from and where we are going.
– Rafael Nieves
Welcome Home, Brookfield, 2017, Digital art, 17 x 11 inches
Rafael “Unca Raffy” Nieves is a North Riverside, IL, based graphic designer. By day, he works as an office manager. At night and on weekends, he writes graphic novels and creates digital art for logos and prints.
In 2010, he began illustrating a series of images entitled “Welcome Home”, that commemorate iconic architecture and landmarks of various towns and villages in the Western Suburbs. His artwork evokes the look and feel of the WPA, European travel posters, and propaganda. Today, with over 30 prints (and counting) that celebrate such towns as Western Springs, Brookfield, Riverside and Oak Park, he is regarded locally as the preeminent chronicler of “hometown pride” by his clientele, which include homeowners, businesses, and real estate agents.
Sarah Thomas of the Brookfield Farmers Market wrote this about Nieves’s Welcome Home. Brookfield print: “His work captures iconic sculptures and architecture that can bring the viewer instantly to the place they represent. He takes that element and gives it dimension, enhancing it on a plain backdrop that magnifies its importance. The Brookfield piece captures your eye with a whimsical bird placed atop a magnificent beast.”
Nieves is largely self-taught. His tools include an iPhone, a laptop, and the Adobe Illustrator program. He cites Michael Schwab, Saul Bass and Alphonse Mucha as influences. He is married, with two children, a dog, a cat, big dreams, and a mortgage.
facebook.com/nievesdesigns
instagram.com/raf_nieves
Welcome Home, Chicago, 2016, Digital art, 17 x 11 inches
Riverside Town Hall exhibitions feature work by area artists, celebrating the exchange of support and generosity between the community of Riverside and the Riverside Arts Center.
Riverside Town Hall
27 Riverside Road
Riverside, Illinois 60546
Riverside Town Hall Hours: Monday – Thursday: 9am-4pm, Friday: 9am – 3pm, Closed Saturday, Sunday, and major holidays