Jorge Ortega photographed by Ben Reed at Showtime Audio, Chicago. Sneakers: Nike SB color design by Stevie from Uprise Skateboard Shop in Chicago. Head Gear: TRP Plaid Hat (custom made one of a kind hat by 187 Brand, made in Colombia).

By Ann Wiens

Entrepreneur, community organizer, instigator—call him what you will; Jorge Ortega knows how to get things going.

He founded the Latino Alliance, Columbia College’s Latino student organization, when he was an arts management major in the early 1990s. He has a film production company, a line of custom clothing, and spends much of his time these days traveling between his home in Chicago and his family’s hometown of Barranquilla, Colombia, where he’s starting up an ambitious community arts program. And developing an artist/designer-run store. And working to improve Internet access. And advising cultural influencers. But it started with cars.

Ortega grew up on Chicago’s Northwest Side, hanging out with his mechanic uncles and customizing small cars (“little toys, Toyotas and stuff”) with his friends. He was attending Columbia, where he earned a B.A. in arts management in 1994, when Chicago’s “low-rider scene was just coming up,” he says. He knew guys who had been working on their cars 20 years, and there was a genuine culture surrounding the scene, but they were just showing the cars to each other “at family gatherings and forest preserve picnics.” Around the same time, Ortega was working with the Pan American Festival, a huge, pan-Hispanic cultural event at Soldier Field. He saw an opportunity.

"It was always these 50-year-old dudes with big hot rods and big money. There was nothing for the urban or Latino guy."

The big, well-organized car shows all focused on hot rods, not “the cars that were coming out of the Latino scene, the low riders or the small imports,” he says. And the festival concentrated on traditional elements of Latino culture, not the young, urban, hip-hop-influenced scene Ortega and his friends belonged to. He arranged for a custom-car show to become an element of the Pan American Festival. His friends “were customizing the cars to their own vision,” he says, “and it became more of an art form. There’s a lot of creativity that goes into these cars—not just from the owner, but also the customizer. It’s a project.”

He organized his first stand-alone car show at the now-defunct International Amphitheater, then moved on to McCormick Place. “We were with the big dogs then,” he laughs, “so people really began to take us seriously. We did more shows, had partners and investors. But my vision was always to take this car show to another level and at the same time foster the culture… These shows became a place to show your art, your craftsmanship, and then it became a business.” He’s let others carry on that business lately, pleased that the culture is well represented in the custom-car community.

These days, Ortega’s focus is largely on the community of Barranquilla, where he’s working to develop cultural industries, using his skills as a marketer, event producer, and entrepreneur. “I’m not going to wait for big government or big corporations to provide funding,” he says. “That could be a long wait.” So he’s using his own resources, “giving back some of the money I make here and my time to try to get things done.” Through his company, Tinta Roja Projects, he’s developing a store in Barranquilla, where artists and designers can sell their work. It will provide a gathering space, marketing experience, and hopefully a seed that will grow into larger projects that combine culture, community, and entrepreneurship. Things Ortega knows well.

For more information on Jorge Ortega’s projects visit tintarojaprojects.com and spanglishideas.com