2 weeks Ago By NINA BAKER [email protected]
Moline photographer and videographer Antonio Varela has launched a project spotlighting the contributions of Quad-Cities leaders who’ve dedicated their lives to elevating the region and those who live here. The project, Generaciones, will document the stories of Quad-Cities leaders with Mexican heritage. For each individual, Varela will film an interview and a video depicting their contributions to the Quad-Cities.
He will also photograph a staged portrait of each person. Varela said he hopes to capture the beauty of Mexican culture and lift up the voices of Quad-Cities residents with Mexican roots. “I want my work to bring out light,” Varela said.
Varela previously served as director of the Moline Teen Center at the Boys and Girls Club of the Mississippi Valley and now works as events and promotions manager for Mercado on Fifth. In March, Varela received an $2,500 Arts Dollars grant from Quad City Arts to support Generaciones, but Varela said he would pursue the project even without outside funding. If he can spotlight stories of these leaders, then he feels an obligation to do so, he said.
As Hispanic and Latin American leaders die, their family members take on the weight of carrying on their stories, Varela said. Sometimes, their story passes on to no one. In January, East Moline resident Sergio Mendoza died at 42.
Mendoza served on the Board of Directors of The Greater Quad Cities Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and was formerly vice president of LULAC Council 5238, which represents the Illinois side of the Quad-Cities. Three years before, Henry Vargas, who helped found the Davenport chapter of LULAC as well as the Davenport Civil Rights Commission, died at 92. “I don’t want their stories to fade away,” Varela said about the leaders he plans to profile in Generaciones.
“They deserve more.” Varela grew up in the 1990s in Moline’s Floreciente neighborhood. As a child, he traveled to Mexico nearly every summer.
His parents, who are from Mexico, met after they both arrived in the Quad-Cities in the 1970s and 1980s. Many of the people Varela intends to highlight in Generaciones are those who impacted him as he grew up, he said. As a teenager, Varela spent nearly all his income on photography equipment.
He has owned at least 20 cameras since he began photography, he said. Varela began working full-time as an independent photographer and videographer three years ago. Varela said his most treasured projects are creative pursuits like Generaciones.
A family stands in front of a golden statue in a photograph captured by Antonio Varela. The first series of Generaciones will include the couple Juanita and Abel Zertuche, the founders of the Mexican Independence Day Parade and Fiesta in East Moline. The parade, which is held yearly in September, donates its proceeds towards LULAC scholarships for Quad-Cities students.
Juanita Zertuche also previously served as the Education Chair and later President of LULAC Council 5238. The series will also feature Juan Fourneau, known as the professional wrestler and author “Latin Thunder.” Varela said he may expand the project to include Quad-Cities leaders without Mexican heritage in the future, depending on the success of the first series.
The first series of the project, which will feature up to seven leaders, will be released during National Hispanic Heritage Month, which lasts from Sept. 15 to Oct. 15.
Varela said he tentatively plans to host an exhibit at a Quad-Cities gallery for the project. The work will also be published on Varela’s social media accounts and website ajvoriginal.com .
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