(upbeat music)
- Chicago is a city of work ethic.
It's a city of promise.
There's a lot of people from all over the world
that migrate here, like my family,
so a lot of inspiration comes out of this city.
The architecture, and the sound of the streets,
to just all the different neighborhoods.
Chicago is that city of dreams.
A lot of it revolves around
just the people we're surrounded by.
We're lucky to be in a city
where there's so many talented individuals.
My name's Louis De Guzman.
I'm a visual artist from Chicago.
It was like the icebreaker growing up,
Aw, you have a Cubs pencil.
You have a Cubs notebook.
I can talk to you 'cause you understand what I love too,
what I'm interested in.
For me as a kid, all I loved to do is draw.
I couldn't really play sports well.
I tried a lot, I wasn't that good,
but what I would do, like, go home
I would just kind of draw Chicago teams.
Everybody knows what the C is,
that Cubs' C is like you just know.
I think that's what Chicago sports has transcended into.
Now we're able to bring something like that
from a five, six-year-old kid, to a 32-year-old now,
who can do a sculpture for Wrigley Field.
Chicago creative community is so diverse and so,
just potent, that we know each other
through different streams.
It's been beautiful.
- How helpful is the community
when it comes to grow the art form together?
- I always think that no one works harder than Chicago does.
I think we feel at times we have so much more to prove,
but more than anything, we all wanna see each other win.
- You know, we don't give up here.
It's like all those teams growing up with sports,
they never gave up and they won a bunch of championships.
- It really forced myself and the people around me
in order to try to build
some sort of platform or program for ourselves
in order to be able to find like-minded people.
- Now, to be able to see people like Louis,
be on this global platform, it's like,
hell yeah, he did it in Chicago.
- You're about to unveil a physical statue at Wrigley Field.
- Yeah, and I want this to be something
that people are gonna see, not just as a structure
but literally seeing themselves in it.
- Just thinking about that moment where, you know,
the kid is gonna pass by with his dad,
he's gonna pass your sculpture,
seeing that and maybe pursuing art
because of him being inspired by your work.
That's beautiful.
- I know growing up,
I didn't really have a lot of people that looked like me
that did what I do, and so,
to now think about that you're opening up that door
for someone to think that they can have a big sculpture
that's permanent too, is so important.
- What I think is cool about this is
we're giving people outside of the sports community,
but still impacted by it, a chance to voice their platform.
- We create with purpose and passion.
And when someone else like the Chicago Cubs Organization
comes to us, it kind of makes you feel good about
you've literally been on the right path your entire life.
- That's sick though, dude.
- Dude, it's crazy, man.
I grew up trying to come here and see, this is nuts.
I thought it was really cool, you know.
It's giving artists like myself a platform to experiment
but also create freely.
The city revolves around creativity, you know, and teamwork.
So it's gonna be made out of these three materials.
It's like mirror materials.
- Oh, okay. Very nice.
- Here's what it looks like.
- Oh wow. - Yeah.
- That's awesome. - 700 pound bronze.
- Thank you, bro. - 700 pounds?
- Yeah.
- So how big is it?
- It's five feet.
- Really? - Yeah.
Five feet of electro plated bronze.
- That's awesome. - Thank you, bro.
- That's gonna be really cool.
- [Louis] There's a plan there.
You need to experience the highs and lows of all this,
'cause it makes you stronger later on.
Nice to meet you. - Yeah, me too, bro.
- How long have you been here for?
- I started in '86.
I've been in here since like, - '86?
- Yeah. - Wow.
Collaboration's in the future for the Cubs.
I think it's, like,
opening up a whole new phase of what's possible.
You see it in sculpture form.
Maybe tomorrow, you'll see it in painting form
or you'll see it in fashion form,
endless possibilities.
And I think it's gonna create a lot of amazing energy
for the organization.
I wanna introduce COHERE, a permanent structure sculpture
that's gonna be installed and living here in the stadium
at the friendly confines of Wrigley Field.
(crowd cheering)
From this collaboration standpoint,
the partnership with the Cubs,
it's like being able to install a permanent structure
based on something that started from a bedroom as a kid,
to adulthood and kind of putting it out there.
I think you always gotta remind yourself
why you started in the first place.
Those vivid early day memories of being that kid,
you know like, oh, this is what I fell in love with
and now I'm doing this as an adult.
You couldn't have told me that when I was that age.
For the Cubs to team up and partner up with myself
as an artist and, you know,
for the future of other artists in the city,
it's a beautiful thing.
And I think it's gonna really shake things up.