Pepe Vargas

Founder and Executive Director

Pepe Vargas personifies creativity, perseverance, dedication, leadership and excellence. As Founder and Executive Director of the International Latino Cultural Center, he fosters the understanding of Latino culture through the universal language of the arts.

In 1985, with a budget of $10,000, an audience of 500 and 14 films projected on a wall, the Chicago Latino Film Festival was born. The success of the first and second Film Festivals was astounding and Vargas kept the momentum going by creating Chicago Latino Cinema in 1987.

Since then, he has utilized film not only for its entertainment value but also for its projection of Latino culture. In a society filled with stereotypes and prejudices, the Film Festival encompasses all nationalities of Latino culture and transports viewers across boundaries into the lives of others. Exposing this kind of richness and diversity is important to Vargas’ sense of social responsibility and thus established a free matinee program for elementary and high school students in the Chicago area. Every year for the last 10 years nearly 4,000 students take part in this program and have the chance to see rare films and meet with the directors.

Under the direction of Vargas, the Film Festival has evolved into the largest and best Latino film festival in the U.S. and became Chicago’s biggest Latino Cultural event. Nowadays, the Film Festival and the other cultural events attract an audience of more than 50,000 people each year; the organization operates with a budget of more than 1.5 million.

Building on the success of the Film Festival, Vargas expanded Chicago Latino Cinema’s programming to showcase the boundless multinational talent of Latino artists by including music concerts, photo and visual arts exhibitions, comedy, theater, dance performances and an array of other cultural expressions.

In 1999, Chicago Latino Cinema was changed to the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago in order to more accurately depict the organization’s mission. Vargas is determined that Chicago will be home for a majestic state-of-the-art facility to house worldwide Latino culture.

Vargas grew up in a small town in Colombia. In 1976, he received his degree in Law and Social Science from the National University of Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has traveled extensively throughout Latin America and Spain. In 1980, Vargas arrived in Chicago with only $200 in his pocket and without speaking English. He studied at Columbia College Chicago and earned a degree in Broadcast Journalism and Television/ Film production in 1985.

He has taught International Law, Latin American Economics and Sociology at a number of universities in Bogotá, Colombia. He has spoken on Latinos in the arts at universities and colleges such as Northwestern University, DePauw University, Elmhurst College, Columbia College, Northeastern Illinois University and many others. He has also given inspiration and motivation speeches at state prisons and participated in the “Principal for a Day” program with Chicago Public Schools since its inception.

Additionally, he has served as a juror in several film festivals in Latin America and Spain, and as a media panelist for various institutions including the Illinois Arts Council, the New England Arts Foundation, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Illinois Humanities Council, while he was one of its Trustees. In January of 2004, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich appointed him to serve on the Governor’s Task Force on Visual Media.

Vargas has received many awards and citations for his dedication to the arts; most recently, he was profiled by the Chicago Tribune as one “Chicagoan of the Year” for 2003. The Chicago Fire Soccer Association recognized him as a Hispanic Hero in the Community on September 8, 2001.

In 1999, he was honored by UNICEF for creating a film-fundraiser for earthquake victims in Colombia. He also received the Lawyers for the Creative Arts Service Award for his arts contributions to Illinois, and in 1998 received the Now Entertainment Inc. Community Arts
Award.

In 2004, he received an Honorary Doctor Degree in Fine Arts from Lake Forest College. He was one of the two winners of the Chicago Community Trust 2006/7 Fellowship for Community Leaders.

During the fellowship, in addition to travel extensively visiting other cultural institutions in Latin America, Spain, the United States and Paris, he is earned a Certificate of Professional Achievement in Nonprofit Management from the Kellogg School of Management at
Northwestern University. Lastly, in November of 2006 he was appointed to the Editorial Board of La Raza Newspaper.

September 2007