“Art is responding to life,” Pablo Serrano said. “To the things that we're going through, and fundamental questions that go to — where have we been, where are we at, where are we going?”

On the Southwest side, a small community with a population of about 20,000 people offers a suburban feel and is home to many families. And it’s promoting education as the foundation of its hopes and dreams.

Public art has become synonymous with Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. A new mural on 18th Street is using the medium to preserve the community’s history, and to memorialize dozens of its residents.