Press Release: Painting the Border; A Child’s Voice
The youngest asylum seekers at our southern border have something to say about “Return to Mexico”, a policy that has left them homeless in one of the most dangerous cities in the world.
Children in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, separated by the border wall from El Paso, Texas, paint their responses to the question: What do you think about the border? Their images reveal rejection, loss, fear, and hope.
Paintings by the young artists are on display at Colgate University’s 100 Hamilton St house, from November 18-December 4.
Colgate University 100 Hamilton St
Opening Reception
Thursday, November 21
4:30-5:30 PM
Commentary, Q & A, appetizers/refreshments
The artists, ages 4 – 18, are children who, either alone or with parents, are among more than 17,000 asylum seekers stranded in Ciudad Juárez under the Migration Protection Protocols (also known as “Return to Mexico”). Since the initiative commenced in earnest in July, more than 50,000 asylum seekers have been either denied entry to the U.S. or have been returned to Mexico after making asylum claims. This policy is the most recent iteration of a greater push from the Trump Administration to close the southern border to asylum seekers and undocumented migrants in a definitive zero tolerance manner.
The exhibit at Colgate come from Skidmore College and is a collaborative effort initiated by Skidmore Senior Teaching Professor Diana Barnes, organized in Juárez by World Organization for Peace representative Lucero de Alba, El Paso NGO Seguimos Adelante, and El Paso artist Cimi Alvarado. About 60 children from shelters in Juárez attended the event at The Rodadora interactive space in the heart of the border city on August 21. Barnes brought their paintings back to Upstate New York to show people, from a child’s perspective, what U.S. immigration policy looks like when it hits the ground.
Students in Professor Nicole Simpson’s Sophomore Residential Seminar (SRS) entitled “Economics of Immigration” are curating the exhibit. The class is traveling to the US-Mexico border in January 2020 as part of the SRS program.
For more information, email: nsimpson@colgate.edu or call: 315 228-7991.
