Chicago kitemaker Julio Flores chuckles about “this whole recycling business.” He says artisans in Puerto Rico have been doing it “out of necessity” for a long, long time.
Flores, 27, learned from his grandfather the art and science of turning throwaway items into wonderful flying machines.
Born in Puerto Rico, the elder Flores would use everything from old Christmas wrap to paper salvaged from the butcher shop to create his kites. These days, the younger Flores, who teaches kitemaking to children and sells his own elaborately painted kites as wall art, is carrying on the family tradition. He combs small grocery stores and warehouses for old window signs and end-rolls of paper.
Flores teaches a number of flat-kite designs, including one in the shape of a stop sign and another called toro, which means bull in Spanish and, at 6 to 7 feet tall, is the largest, strongest kite in his repertoire.
Julio Flores’ next kitemaking workshop for children (and families) will be noon to 2 p.m. April 20 in the Robert B. & Beatrice C. Mayer Education Center, on the first floor of the Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.
Cost is $30 (including materials) for one parent and one child; add $5 for a second child. Weather permitting, the workshop will move outside where participants will be able to fly their completed kites.
To register, call the MCA at 312-397-4010.
For Flores’ artful, hand-painted kites ($30), check out the selection at the Illinois Artisans Shop, 100 W. Randolph St.; 312-814-5321.
