Connie the Unifier

Connie’s love for the children of our community extends beyond the sweet treats of the Brown sCow Ice Cream Parlor. 

Connie Brown’s family lived on our block. Our children attended Betsy Ross Elementary. We’d see each other for years at band concerts, PTO fundraising events, and grandparent breakfasts. Our village of Forest Park had a powerful community of involved diverse families filling its strong grade schools. Most families here have anxiety around the impending public high school situation.

Our small town feeds into the Illinois District 209, Proviso Township High Schools. A very large district with a reputation of subpar test scores and corrupt mismanagement of funds. We’d all like our children to maintain the community of friends they’ve built long into adulthood. Unfortunately this neighborhood every year splinters into many directions. 

Each of my three sons had 8th grade classes that split to attend 27 different high schools. Yes, each of their graduation programs listed the schools the 8th graders would be attending. Each class went 27 different ways. 

Connie worked to combat this public school problem through getting out the vote through a campaign “209 Together” to change the leadership in the school board. Each election brought a “209 Together” slate. And the campaign nearly always has come through with a victory in each election. And each slate battled many challenges when in office. While Connie never ran herself mainly due to running a business, her passion and voice for the children of our community with the 209 Together movement will forever be appreciated.    

Connie’s 209 Together portrait was taken in front of Betsy Ross Elementary to celebrate her efforts to effect change for our high school situation for the children of our community. She knew only of the location and was honored. She brought the signs. Secretly I reached out to a couple members of the community to coordinate bringing children for the background of the image. Wearing her Brown Cow attire and red Rosie bandana, Connie stands firm on the road to help the children of the community to a better future.

Mariah the Artist

Mariah is an American artist who’s primarily utilized photography as her artform for her visual storytelling. We connected through our trade organization ASMP, the American Society of Media Photographers. This organization’s core mission is to advocate, educate, and provide a community for image makers. 

Mariah was early in creating a personal project, a photo essay and potential book about small town American Legions. I admired her dedication to create her artistic vision.

In April 2018 Mariah encouraged me to enroll in an ASMP sponsored seminar led by local photographer Paul Elledge, a photographer who I very much respected. After 3 days of introspection of my work and reflecting on my career, Paul challenged me to do a personal project. I had never made time for those. He made clear that “personal projects show who you are, what you stand for, and will provide the outside world a real view of you.” A few weeks later this Modern Rosie project was born. 

Early on, while thinking about the Modern Rosies in my life, I asked Mariah to be part of the project to represent women photographers. I knew that women were underrepresented as visual story tellers, which meant that women’s perspectives were underrepresented. I fully admired her work and her as a person. In the fall we coordinated her Modern Rosie portrait.

Mariah arrived in traditional artist black attire and black boots. We borrowed a peer’s 8x10 view camera, a camera that screams “art photographer.” We set up in front of the Centennial Monument in Chicago’s Logan Square, a neighborhood named after the American Civil War General John Logan. This location felt patriotic, reflecting a bit on her American Legion efforts. She tied on the red Rosie bandana, we set up in the street and clicked away. 

Mariah stands firmly on Kedzie Avenue fiercely looking to capture people’s essence amidst society’s traffic. Her work takes on risk, a feeling most women feel daily. The traffic heeds to Mariah’s presence, a symbol of women positioned squarely in the middle of the fast paced world. Forcing people to recognize, see, hear, and respect all women.

Mariah the American Artist

When I first met Mariah Karson in 2014 she was working on a personal project of her own about small town American Legion posts to create a time capsule about dying community spaces. While researching the project she discovered her grandfather had been a member. 

Mariah being a person who’s fascinated by people in small towns, and as a working photographer took on the project. She researched locations all across the country and chose locations in towns with populations of less than 1000 people in California, Illinois, Virginia and Nebraska. She wrote and self-published the hardcover book. This took many years. I very much admired her efforts to celebrate the selfless veterans of small town America. The photo essay became a beautiful art show. The book is beautiful and was celebrated by many in the art community, providing opportunities for panel discussions about patriotism and women artists, invitations to art exhibitions, and even a radio interview.

After capturing her portrait on the street in Logan Square Mariah suggested this nearby tank. This monument had been donated by American Legion Post 623, an online chapter with no actual brick and mortar space, dedicated to “Veterans of All Wars and Conflicts”. We drove over. Mariah removed some of the garbage around and on the tank. She easily hopped up. We captured the second Modern Rosie portrait of Mariah as a symbolic tribute to her patriotic art.

Sadly, as time ticked on Mariah found herself conflicted with her American Legion work. The tenor of our country became difficult for her to celebrate the patriotism which inspired this book and the people within the American Legion culture. Her country’s lack of support for women, their health, their bodies or their voices, created angry anxiety filled days. She’d often go on sabbaticals to remote places stateside and abroad to escape the news. 

Late 2021 became too much for her to handle as more rights for women became stripped away. She chose to exercise her right to leave a country that was daily making her feel less than, and made plans to live out of the country permanently. Choosing a new career and life in a safer place.

This portrait of Mariah atop this tank continues to evolve as a powerful statement about American women’s strength, vulnerability, and independence. 

Heidi & Jayne the Entrepreneurs

I met Heidi and Jayne sometime mid-2000’s. I had been living and working out of my basement darkroom in Forest Park for several years. One of my earliest memories of the two of them was quite the vision. They were marching in Forest Park’s amazing St Paddy’s Day parade. Winter was stubborn with flurries in the air. All attendees were keeping warm by huddling together and using a fair amount of drinking to ward off the chill.

We could see the Team Blonde group from a distance. Amid the sea of green, orange-and winter coats-strutting toward us in the parade was a swatch of pink and blonde. Five members came into focus as they approached me with my three young boys, all donning blonde super bouffant wigs with necks wrapped in hot pink super boas. They floated down Madison St announcing their Team Blonde business while championing female empowerment in their own fun satirical way.

By the time I opened my studio space in 2006 I had gotten to know the two of them a bit. Their sisterhood was formed in undergrad at the University of Illinois. Heidi went on for a law degree and Jayne an MBA. Both incredibly smart, ambitious, and often underestimated. We collaborated on chamber boards and crowd sourced dollars for a marketing effort to drive shoppers from all over Chicagoland to our community. 

They purchased the original Team Blonde shop on a hot corner of Forest Park. When they bought their current building just down the street, they worked to find new tenants for their original space during a difficult downturn in the 2008 economy. With few prospects, they developed the corner into Counter Coffee, doing many renovations on their own. Establishing a space for coffee-clutchers several years before the current inhabitant, Kribi Coffee Air Roasters, took over in 2019 making it their flagship location.

Their current Team Blonde location has grown into an established eco-spa and boutique. You’ll find beautiful women’s clothing, products promoting a better earth for future generations, and an atmosphere that encourages kindness, demands respect for women, and promotes love for pets. My wife, mother, and mother-in-law all shop there. My sons and I are regulars whenever we are in need of a gift for the special people in our lives.

 Their Modern Rosie portrait is set in their boutique eco-spa, surrounded by many stylish and witty “girl power” offerings. Heidi holding a law book, Jayne her essential tablet and favorite coffee mug. You’ll notice in the mirror over Jayne’s shoulder the framed portrait of the blondes with Heidi’s charming dog Jazz from back when we met. 

These small business entrepreneurs own property and look to acquire more as investments. They consult for large corporations and are on charity boards. They embody the notion that blondes can be intelligent, flashy, witty, kind, impactful and powerful. I wonder if the writers of the Barbie movie were at that 2008 parade, secretly met them, or have shopped in their store. If so, I wouldn’t be surprised.

Heather the Agent

As a co-owner of The Standard Society, established in 2013, which is now GRG Partners, Heather is a talent agent primarily for directors, animators, and editors in the commercial advertising industry. As their representative, Heather connects them to opportunities to expand their artistic ability, and promote their skills, and vision for story.

I met Heather purely because she and my cousin Tom met, fell in love, married, and now have a teenager, home & life together. 

Early on, each encounter I had with Heather one upped the previous. She was charming, beautiful, and electric. Smart, incredibly witty, with an infectious laugh. For years I knew little about her professional life. Here and there I'd hear she was writing something, working with creatives. Made sense to me, she was always donning a tint of wild color in her hair, plus her sense for storytelling was solid. My cousin had an incredible partner and I was grateful that she was part of our family. I find it wild how, when people are part of your family, you really know little about what exactly they do for their career. You rarely get into the conversation. 

Around 2012, I was talking to Tom, expressing a struggle I was having with my career. He suggested I talk with Heather, saying she helped creative people. I reached out. The short conversation was, as expected, brilliant and fun. However, her natural ability to listen, connect, encourage, and then direct me on a path for my future was highly impactful. The moment was pivotal for me. I began to think differently about what I was currently doing as a creative and developed new aspirations for my creative future. 

Agent Rosie firmly stands here on set as a trend setter in an industry with far too few female agents. As an ally for those in the director's chair, impacting and inspiring the voices of both women and men. This Modern Rosie portrait depicts my cousin Heather in a powerful light. As a beaming symbol to her teenager, our family, and the larger creative community. She expands the notion that women can be wildly passionate mothers inside their homes, while simultaneously being fierce economic agents for change outside.

Amara the Advocate

I met Dr. Amara Enyia while photographing her as a part of a panel discussion with women leaders at Adler University in early March 2020. Immediately, Dr. Enyia stood out to me as she challenged the audience to "have the difficult conversations regarding race/politics within your families, inner groups and circles. The world will only move forward with those discussions happening." I stayed after for a quick chat to commend her bold and courageous tenor. While I immediately had her in mind for this Modern Rosie project, I felt a need to learn more about her before I approached her to participate. I quickly learned of her advocacy and leadership as a Chicago west sider. Her influence on the international stage was also impressive.⁠

⁠Early that June I decided to reconnect, share my Modern Rosie project’s artist statement, and ask if she’d be interested in being one of our Rosies. Seeing her as a powerful leader and influential voice. She seemed an ideal candidate. She was very receptive, saying that, “given the current social climate, I am excited and honored to be a part of this project.” ⁠⁠

As with each Modern Rosie, I informed her that she should research and reflect on the persona of Rosie the Riveter. With this being a contemporary Rosie series representing the hard work and contribution women leaders make to our currrent economy and society, the one thing she needed to consider wardrobe-wise was that she’d be wearing a red bandana. ⁠

⁠We set the location near her west side home under the Green Line L tracks. The day was perfect.⁠ She arrived wearing this stunning solid black outfit and bold shoes. The necklace, sourced in South Africa by a dear friend of hers who owns The Silver Room in Hyde Park, represents her commitment to Pan-Africanism.⁠

⁠⁠Dr. Enyia boldly stands, as a fierce advocate for the people, community and world around her, facing life’s traffic. Determined to engage with and positively influence the flow of the fast lanes around her. Forcing people to slow down, think, and reflect on the simple routes we take daily. Rosie the Advocate challenges us to contemplate the more complicated path, for our better future.

Ann the Provider

Ann Jackson is a doctor of physical therapy by trade. Have known her through my wife, Chelsea, as Ann specializes in PT for infants and toddlers.

To say Ann cares deeply for others is an understatement. Giving is in her nature. She is driven by her big heart and a passion for fostering positive futures for those she touches.

On a Fall Friday afternoon, I arrived at Ann’s home to prepare her portrait. After receiving one of Ann’s famously powerful hugs, I noticed her home’s floors, furniture and stairs were lined with a sea of paper bags containing food items prepped for the next day’s set of deliveries. The bags were only partially filled awaiting produce, refrigerated items and nametags to be added. 

Ann’s Modern Rosie portrait is set in her home’s driveway, the organization’s original staging point for distribution of labeled foodbags to drivers who are matched with families in need. The goods surrounding her are a small sample of items they receive through donations, grants, and local grocery stores. Ann purchased the badass boots to represent her southern roots.

I challenge you to open yourself up to the opportunity to connect with the CFFEIM. Follow Ann’s lead. Giving your time and energy to others will fill your heart in a way that’s impossible to quantify and become infectious; spreading a ton of love to a population in desperate need of quality nutrition and good vibes. 

Ingrid the Doctor

Dr. Ingrid Liu was our family’s amazing physician for several years. My wife and I were comforted to have our family physician for many years to come. Then suddenly, she announced she was leaving the practice and would no longer be in our network. 

We were so sad to lose touch with a provider who was so dependable, sensible, attentive, and friendly. She had brought us so much comfort during many scares, which happen with three growing boys. 

Some months later we bumped into one another. "We miss you so much,” I stated. With a warm smiling reply, "I know, I miss you all, too! How is the family?" We exchanged updates. 

She explained that she left to start her own membership-based practice after feeling confined by the statistics and money driven practices of insurance companies. Those interactions were monopolizing her time with constant communication and mandated procedures that were often not the most sensible. I shared my appreciation for her stance, explaining my being denied health insurance by one of the big companies because I was seeing a therapist. She nodded unsurprised. Which is why she needed to start something new. If she hadn't, she was on a path to leave medicine altogether. The norm was too often not allowing her to advocate and help her patients in the best way possible — antithetical to why she became a family practitioner. 

Dr. Liu now has a practice allowing her to provide the compassionate care she always envisioned. She has a partner and a small staff to provide very personalized care at a reasonable monthly rate.  Relationships with labs and centers keep common tests significantly lower than what they are with the insurance companies in the middle. They also offer many prescription medications at wholesale prices, likewise, a fraction of the cost of the pharmacy.

This Modern Rosie image portrays Dr. Liu proud and comfortable, providing a highly valuable service to the community. Instead of being directed by statistic focused pencil pushers, she now leads with the skills, knowledge and medicine that drive her passion to care for others. After all, that's why she got into medicine in the first place.

Yolanda the Director of Administration

Yolanda and I met through an on-line business networking group in late 2020. She and her husband run RB Eco Cleaning, a carpet, upholstery, and door-to-door dry cleaning business on the north side of Chicago. I had gotten to know her as an incredibly passionate mother of two teens and partner to her husband in life and business. Yolanda was managing all schedules inside and outside the home, supporting the family and company’s team in all ways possible. 

I also heard her personal story. Yolanda’s parents moved to Chicago from Mexico City when she was a one-year old to create the American dream for her. She was raised on the north side of Chicago. She met and married Ron, also from an immigrant family, and they began their company by renting carpet cleaning machines from local Jewels. For over 25 years they’ve been in business, raising a son and daughter who both attended a northside Chicago private high school and left for college.

Every conversation with Yolanda revolved around how busy they were. She shared her concerns for her husband’s health as his body aged given the demands of handling the equipment and workload. She expressed her desire to find a younger, dedicated crew to help with the work. She worried about how they could afford that crew, maintain their standards, and continue building a client base so that, one day in the distant future, they could sell the business and retire. She shared her hope that this would all happen before Ron’s body forced an alternate plan. All these themes are part of the common story for mom-n-pop businesses across America.

RB Eco Cleaning maintains a standard to ensure their products are best helping families who are concerned with allergens. They have a simple motto on their website. “Our company is a family owned business providing services to the Chicago land area and surrounding suburbs. Our goal is to provide excellent customer service and quality work at reasonable prices.” Their company policy is to leave driers overnight, which is uncommon in their industry. A nice touch.

Yolanda’s portrait was captured in a local Forest Preserve symbolizing their “Eco” name. The trail of carpet tiles are from Interface Flor, a company committed to being zero carbon by 2040. Upon understanding our project, they donated the tiles for this image.  

While Yolanda rarely handles the heavy equipment of RB Eco Cleaning, her daily efforts as Director of Administration is full of so much heavy lifting. Her story is a common one of a hard working immigrant providing much needed high-quality services for the community around her, while simultaneously raising a quality future generation of hard working contributors to our world.

Kay the Resilient

Artist Write up Coming Soon

Connie the Riveter

Artist Write up Coming Soon

Kalki the Brewer

Artist Write up Coming Soon

Artist Statement

Rosie the Riveter was created in 1942 during WWII as a recruitment campaign to keep America’s economy alive by encouraging women to work in manufacturing plants as "fillers" for the men who were serving in the military abroad. With this opportunity, women stepped up in droves; roughly 17 million women began to work outside of their homes to keep the economic machine running. Women are natural leaders, and in that desperate moment the United States finally provided women the opportunity to be respected for their contributions outside the home. 

When looking at today's statistics, women's representation continues to lag behind men in most industries. However, there are many women who are providing an independent, forceful voice, boldly transforming roles and breaking industry barriers, prominent in many professions that would not have been possible 100 years ago. Women are community leaders, in mind, body, and spirit, acting as vital contributors to our culture, economy, and world in a way that society has never seen.

This Modern Rosie portrait project champions a variety of tireless industry and community ambassadors from my small circles. The series pays homage to the original “We Can Do It” Rosie figure through each woman’s own power pose, wardrobe choice, and a red bandana. 

As a man contemplating the future, this series imagines a powerful new world, one which we all choose to partner with the women around us and amplify their bold efforts, generating a newfound level of respect and power in their voices. Together, we can do it.  

Chris Guillen - January 2026

Modern Rosie is an ongoing project that has evolved into the creation of an official 501(c)3 non-profit organization. Modern Rosie’s mission is to inspire and connect future generations of girls and young women to a broad range of female leaders through powerful stories and mentorship opportunities.