Artist Yulia Kuznetsova earned a path to citizenship
Chicago is a city of immigrants. Since the city’s early days, people from foreign lands came to Chicago. They fled persecution, poverty, war and political unrest. They came to live a better life. They sought that ancient, elusive, and slippery concept called freedom.
From 1850–1860 40% of Chicago’s population was foreign-born or descended from foreign-born families. Most were German, Irish, and Scandanavians. In 1900, there were 1 million foreign-born people or their descendants living in Chicago out of a population of almost 1.7 million.
During the various great immigration waves of the late 1800s through post World War II, people came to Chicago in droves from all over the world. After the war through the 1960s, displaced persons fled political and economic unstable countries. They came to Chicago.
Immigrants built Chicago. Immigrant artisans used their skills to make Chicago beautiful. From the late 1800s through today, immigrants and their descendants made and continue to make our city beautiful.
While Chicago architects and designers take the credit for the City Beautiful movement, it was skilled immigrant stone cutters, woodcarvers, steeplejacks, masons, blacksmiths, stained glass artists, and other skilled artisans who made the designs a reality through their talent. Other immigrants carried the hods, dug the ditches, laid the brick, plastered the walls, and did whatever backbreaking work needed to be done.
Immigrant artists in Chicago created more beauty through visual arts. Some were notable. Sister Mary Stanisia ( Monica Kurkowski), Stanisław Szukalski, Albin Polasek, Claes Oldenberg, architects and designers Mies van der Rohe and László Moholy-Nagy to name some.
Yulia Vladimirovna Kuznetsova is an artist who was born and raised in Russia. In modern Russia, women still have a very little voice or freedom to speak out, create, or pursue their dreams and passions.
From an early age, Yulia exhibited a talent for art. She was encouraged by her parents to believe in herself as a person and her abilities as an artist. With their blessing, she applied to several American universities. The School of the Chicago Art Institute was the first to accept her. Not taking any chances, Yulia came to Chicago.
Yulia attended the School of the Art Institute on a scholarship. Kuznetsova’s parents sold their apartment in Russia and moved in with a relative to help pay the costs her scholarship did not. This sacrifice was a testament to their faith in her abilities.
Yulia is determined to become an American citizen. Living in America taught her about freedom. The freedom she would be deprived of in Russia. Under our current administration’s immigration policies, her determination became a struggle.
Yulia’s employer and one of her champions, Chicago artist, Tony Fitzpatrick says, “She is the kind of person we want to become American. Yulia is an extraordinarily gifted young artist.” Her work is described by Tony Fitzpatrick as fearless.
Yulia Kuznetsova could not produce her art in Russia, under the current conditions. She would not see the same success in her home country she would here. Some of her work is socio-political. In Russia, she would be monitored, banned, or imprisoned for exhibiting her art.
Yulia works for Tony Fitzpatrick in his studio, gallery, and art incubator, Adventureland Works on Paper and the Dime. For the past few years, she has been trying to remain, work, and create in this country.
With the sponsorship and help of Tony Fitzpatrick and immigration attorney, Fiona McEntee, herself an immigrant, Kuznetsova is trying to obtain a visa for people with extraordinary abilities, which will allow her to work here for three years. These visas are reserved for people with extraordinary ability in the visual arts, motion pictures, or television. The visa process is daunting, fraught with paperwork, red tape, and time-consuming.
Kuznetsova meets the criteria for obtaining the visa. She has extraordinary talent, her work has been and is currently on display in galleries throughout the country, and sales are moderately successful.
Yulia Kuznetsova, more than native-born Americans, has a greater appreciation of what freedom really means. She lived under oppression and artistic repression. In America, she can express, create, display, and sell what she wants.
Yulia Kuznetsova is not just fighting for herself. She is fighting to make a contribution to our city and nation through her art. She is fighting to make a difference. She expressed gratitude for the way she was accepted into the student community, the local art world, and the city at large.
Yulia Kuznetsova is not asking for anything. Like the millions of immigrants who came to Chicago, she wants to be a productive citizen and make a contribution to society through her artwork.
Yulia is what this city is all about. Chicago is a city of hard prodigious workers. Each, no matter where they came from or what they do, contribute to our city.
A significant community has grown around Yulia to support her. Yulia Kuznetsova fell in love with America. Her family sacrificed so she could come here, be educated, and be successful. She works long hours managing Tony Fitzpatrick’s studio and creating her artwork. It is a struggle, yet she perseveres.
Yulia Kuznetsova is in the United States legally. She is pursuing the next step to stay and work here. If successful, she will be on the path to citizenship. All of this will take several years, yet she is determined to remain and become an American citizen.
I am the grandson of immigrants. I grew up in immigrant communities. I witnessed first hand how hard immigrants worked. I listened to the stories they told of poverty, repression, and the ravages of war. They came to Chicago. They became Americans. In small and big ways, they made contributions to this city.
Yulia Kuznetsova wants to be an American. She wants to contribute to Chicago through her artwork. She, like millions before her, deserves the opportunity to walk the path of citizenship.
