West Chicago Cultural Arts Commission Invites You To Partake In Local Loteria

It’s fall and We Go is buzzing with fun events to be a part of . The Cultural Arts Commission of West Chicago invites residents to participate in their fall Loteria. They’ve launched the game across the community and incorporated artwork of local artisans into the cards.

What is Loteria, you ask?

Loteria is a traditional game of chance, lotería—the Spanish word for lottery—is often referred to as Mexican bingo, where illustrated cards depicting the Mexican aesthetic replace bingo balls. Latinx and Hispanic communities have been playing this game for hundreds of years, but in the past decade, it has become increasingly visible in the United States, according to Google Trends. The origin of lotería, sometimes called a Mexican bingo game, has been traced back hundreds of years. It began in Italy in the 15th century and was brought to Mexico, by way of Spain in the 1700s.

Loteria Mexicana, a much-loved game, or juego, rose from being the pastime of social elites to a national phenomenon played by everyone throughout the country of Mexico and now, West Chicago thanks to the Cultural Arts Commission. Loteria has been played as a game of chance, as a pastime, and is even used as a teaching tool by bilingual teachers across the United States because the Loteria cards include the name of the pictured character, they are used to teach reading, and writing, history, and social values. 

A few fun facts about Loteria:

The game was actually played a lot during and after The War Of Independence (1810-1820) because the soldiers of Mexico fighting for independence were playing Loteria and when people found out it ended up blowing up.  Loteria is the most popular game in Mexico. Loteria is 500 years old

In 1887 French entrepreneur Don Clemente Jacques created the “Lotería El Gallo,” the most traditional format of the game played today. This version includes 54 cards with a series of pictures and a random number of “tablas” or boards. Each board has 16 images—four vertical and four horizontal

During the Cultural Arts Commission initiative, the Loteria cards will stay up until the end of October, possibly through mid-November.

To learn more about the artists who participated in creating the images for West Chicago’s game, click here and scroll to “Artist details” at the bottom. They offer thoughtful explanations of their creative processes.

Read on for all the fun details on how to participate:

As DuPage County communities, including West Chicago, connected with the College of DuPage Warhol exhibit this summer, local artists created traditional Loteria images in pop art styles.