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| 1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
| 3 | Representatives are saddened to learn of the death of Jon Veal | ||||||
| 4 | of Chicago, who passed away on December 21, 2022; and
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| 5 | WHEREAS, Jon Veal was a transdisciplinary artist focused | ||||||
| 6 | on the capacity of symbolic gesture as a strategy, using his | ||||||
| 7 | artistic agency as a platform for building communal spaces; | ||||||
| 8 | his artwork was exhibited at the Chicago Artist Department, | ||||||
| 9 | Silent Funny, the William Hill Gallery, the Homewood Science | ||||||
| 10 | Center, the Chicago Cultural Ball, the Kiss the Brain Gallery, | ||||||
| 11 | the Catich Gallery at St. Ambrose University, and the Terrain | ||||||
| 12 | Biennial representing Austin, Chicago; he was the first | ||||||
| 13 | African American artist in Residence at Oak Park Public | ||||||
| 14 | Library and held the Field/Work Artist in Residence position | ||||||
| 15 | at Chicago Artist Coalition in 2019; and
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| 16 | WHEREAS, In 2019, Jon Veal and Jordan Campbell co-founded | ||||||
| 17 | alt_Chicago, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, artist-led organization | ||||||
| 18 | that aims to transform the communities of Chicago through art; | ||||||
| 19 | their organization became known for its free community markets | ||||||
| 20 | on the West and South sides and their flagship venture Project | ||||||
| 21 | Stamp, a campaign to document the lives of West Siders through | ||||||
| 22 | portraits taken in neighborhood spaces; at the time of his | ||||||
| 23 | passing, alt_Chicago had collected $350,000 over the past year | ||||||
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| 1 | to hire staff, realize projects, and eventually find a | ||||||
| 2 | permanent studio on the West Side; and
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| 3 | WHEREAS, Through alt_Chicago, Jon Veal received numerous | ||||||
| 4 | honors, grants, fellowships, and opportunities to serve the | ||||||
| 5 | City of Chicago through several programs, including Project | ||||||
| 6 | Stamp, alt_ Market, alt_ b.i.n., Redemptive Plastics, and alt_ | ||||||
| 7 | Academy; in 2020, he was a recipient of 3Arts' Make A Wave | ||||||
| 8 | grant and the Chicago Artist Coalition's Spark grant, which | ||||||
| 9 | recognizes exceptional artists working in Chicago; in 2021, he | ||||||
| 10 | was invited to join the Resource Global Chicago Cohort in | ||||||
| 11 | addition to being named the 2021 Spring Latham Fellow at the | ||||||
| 12 | IIT Institute of Design; and
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| 13 | WHEREAS, Jon Veal served on the auxiliary Board of | ||||||
| 14 | Directors for the Design Museum of Chicago and on the Chicago | ||||||
| 15 | Avenue Corridor Improvement Study Team in partnership with the | ||||||
| 16 | Lamar Johnson Collaborative and the Chicago Department of | ||||||
| 17 | Transportation; and
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| 18 | WHEREAS, Jon Veal was known for his ability to converse | ||||||
| 19 | with strangers and quickly become friends; he will be | ||||||
| 20 | remembered for his work and his commitment to bringing art and | ||||||
| 21 | opportunity to the West Side; and
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| 22 | WHEREAS, Jon Veal is survived by his fiancée, Brittney | ||||||
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| 1 | Carolina; his mother, Karen Veal; his father, Joseph Veal; and | ||||||
| 2 | his sister, Cartier Veal; therefore, be it
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| 3 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
| 4 | HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
| 5 | we mourn the passing of
Jon Veal and extend our sincere
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| 6 | condolences to his family, friends, and all who knew and loved
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| 7 | him; and be it further
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| 8 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
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| 9 | presented to the family of Jon Veal as an expression of
our | ||||||
| 10 | deepest sympathy.
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