Community Forums: Re: Introduction

Home » Forum Home » Past Features » Immigrant Status

Topic: Introduction
Replies: 14 Pages: 1 Last Post: Dec 14, 2005 8:21 PM by: jaime longoria

Welcome, Guest
	Login
	Guest Settings
	Help

Reply to this Topic

Search Forum

Back to Topic List

Topics: [ Previous | Next ]

Replies: 14 Pages: 1

Colin Rusch

Posts: 1,435
Registered: Oct 16, 2002

Introduction
Posted: Jan 28, 2004 9:02 AM

Immigrant Status, developed by Intermedia Arts in partnership with Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, Family & Children's Service, and St. Paul Jewish Community Center, is designed to examine— through the arts—policies and conditions affecting the lives of Minnesota’s immigrant populations. What forces compelled individuals and communities to leave their homelands? What conditions greeted them upon their arrival in Minnesota? What communities did they find here and what communities did they form? By addressing these and other questions, we hope to heighten community awareness of issues affecting immigrants today and engage local communities to take action and strive for policy change through arts and dialogue.

Brownbag lunch discussions are being held on Wednesdays at Intermedia Arts through February 25. This forum is an extension of those discussions. A full schedule of events is below.

Immigrant Status Events:
The visual exhibition of three parts will be up through April 18th, 2004 :1)    Ndimgbe: A compendium of African Visual Artists in Minnesota with Tru Ruts Endeavors, 2)    Talking Suitcases by community students and artists with lead mentor artists Susan Armington and Carla Vogel and 3)    The Story Behind the Picture; photos and stories by new immigrant students at Abraham Lincoln High School and El Colegio charter/alternative schools in Minneapolis.

Film: Intermedia Arts, along with partners at The Neighborhood House, Walker Art Center and Harmony Works are bringing the issues around new immigrants in the state of Minnesota to the forefront of dialogue through the PBS series, New Americans which will air nationally in the spring of 2004. Intermedia Arts will host the series through our Films First Fridays with curator Marlina Gonzalez. Parts of the film will be presented here at Intermedia Arts on March 5th, June 5th and in September of 2004. The series is a documentary of 5 different new immigrant groups coming to America. (Great work!)

Brown Bag Lunch Series: Wednesdays in January and February, 2004
Noon to 1:00 PM    Free admission

January 7th        Girls at War: Pressures on Female Immigrants
January 14        Immigrant Law & Policy Overview: From Rule to Application (Former Soviet Bloc focus)
January 21        Politics of Art and Religion
January 28        Breaking the Museum: Cultural Traditions
February 4        Youth Thoughts in Immigration
February 11        Immigrant Law & Policy Overview: From Rule to Application    (Latino and African focus)
February 18        Immersion and Impact: Psycho-social impacts of Immigration and Racism
February 25       Labor Practices: Immigrant Issues with Latino and African Workers

Community Workshops: January through March 27, 2004

•   Housing and Homes            Saturday, January    24 (1:00 pm Free Admission)
        - Participate in a hands-on discussion about current and future housing strategies for and with Eastern Bloc, African, Southeast Asian and Latino immigrant communities.

•    African Artistic Craft and Technique    Saturday, February 21     (2:00 pm, free admission. All ages welcome)
        - Artists from the Ndimgbe exhibition host this workshop on creating with African forms and techniques.

•    Culture Preserved            Saturday, March 13, 2004    (1:00 pm, Free Admission)
        - Join us for an enlightening dialogue with local experts, community leaders, and students who are actively working to ensure that immigrant culture is preserved through the eyes, ears, and memories of immigrant communities.

•    African Art at the Turn of the Millennium: Maintaining Traditions in a Global Community Saturday, March 27, 2004   (2:00 PM, free admission)
   - Discuss the state of African art with artists from Ndimgbe and other guest artists and curators from the Twin Cities community.

jaime longoria

Posts: 1,161
Registered: Oct 7, 2002

Re: Introduction
Posted: Jan 28, 2004 11:57 AM

So maybe it would be a good idea to summarize the discussions the day they happen and place them here for people who can not attend to share?

coyote 256
last chicano artist

Colin Rusch

Posts: 1,435
Registered: Oct 16, 2002

Re: Introduction
Posted: Jan 29, 2004 12:37 AM

Thanks Coyote. I've been planning to do this but did not state it above.

Today's discussion centered around cultural traditions, how they transform, and specifically how this all relates to the notion of a museum. Sha Cage and e.g. bailey, who curated the Ndimgbe show, discussed how that project developed. They were looking to help African visual artists present their work in way that worked toward more coherence in that community and had a ongoing impact on the artists lives. I was impressed. They are working with 17 artists. The entire group meets every other week to discuss work and logistical concerns. They have instigated these dialogues in which the artists can discuss their work as well as classes where the general public can learn about them and their work. The result is an opportunity for exposure while developing substantial relationships among the artists and between the artists and many other people in the community. The group at today's lunch was a mix of people working in arts organizations, social services, and other interested parties.

Second, one of the artists, Constantine (I did not get his last name), spoke about the development from growing up in a family that had traditional mask makers, negotiating his interpersonal relationship with his father who wanted him to become an accountant, going to art school in the Ivory Coast, and eventually ending up in MN through a school program and going to MCAD for graphic design. He discussed how he made critical decisions in his career and the social and cultural ramifications in his life.

Last but ont least, I talked about mnartists.org, a bit about my career, and my pursuit of making dances primarily through self-presentation. The heart of what I talked about was making work with the resources you have and trying to get more visible and useful resources into the hands of artists. The democratization of Art is a significant shift in Eurocentric societies.

So, that is the quick recap. Questions? What is peeking people's interest in these topics?

Colin

Colin Rusch

Posts: 1,435
Registered: Oct 16, 2002

Re: Introduction
Posted: Feb 5, 2004 11:06 PM

Hi Everyone,

Sorry for the delay in posting the recap of yesterday's conversation.

Ugon a Somali woman who works at District 202 discussed her experiences growing up in Owattona after living in Somalia and Kenya until the age of nine. She also told us about being ostracized by the Somali community because she is gay. Many of the roundtable participants work with youth in communities of color. The discussion then ventured into how gay teens were living in these various communities. That part of the discussion led to an active dialogue about interactions of Somali youth with African American youth. The final part of the discussion returned to many of the people working with teens. They repeatedly confirmed the importance of venues and platforms for the kids to express themselves and share their stories. For many of these teachers, art projects have been some of the most successful programs.

Colin

Lauren DeSteno

Posts: 1,520
From: Minneapolis, MN
Registered: Oct 19, 2001

Re: Introduction
Posted: Feb 6, 2004 12:52 AM

That sounds like an amazing discussion, Colin. I wish I wasn't in class so that I could attend. I have a lot of friends that have worked (or still do) at Dist. 202. It is so important for kids to have a safe venue to express themselves - and 202 is a pretty incredible place for that. Thanks again for the update.

lauren

jaime longoria

Posts: 1,161
Registered: Oct 7, 2002

Re: Introduction
Posted: Feb 6, 2004 9:09 AM

> Hi Everyone,
>
> Sorry for the delay in posting the recap of
> yesterday's conversation.
>
> Ugon a Somali woman who works at District 202
> discussed her experiences growing up in Owattona
> after living in Somalia and Kenya until the age of
> nine. She also told us about being ostracized by the
> Somali community because she is gay. Many of the
> roundtable participants work with youth in
> communities of color. The discussion then ventured
> into how gay teens were living in these various
> communities. That part of the discussion led to an
> active dialogue about interactions of Somali youth
> with African American youth. The final part of the
> discussion returned to many of the people working
> with teens. They repeatedly confirmed the importance
> of venues and platforms for the kids to express
> themselves and share their stories. For many of these
> teachers, art projects have been some of the most
> successful programs.
>
> Colin

Would you consider offering an invitation the each of the prominent speakers to come onto this post and provide their own words for us to discuss? And please advocate that they set up a site on mnartists,org with a link from their post? (help Lauren)

coyote 256
chicano artist
Minnesota Mediocre Art Movement

Colin Rusch

Posts: 1,435
Registered: Oct 16, 2002

Re: Introduction
Posted: Feb 6, 2004 1:02 PM

Jaime,

I have been attending the lunches and making this offer. Many of the presenters are a bit shy about their language skills. I am working with e.g. bailey and Sha Cage to help get participants in the program registered and comfortable with the site.

Thanks for your continued input on what we are up to here.

Colin

jaime longoria

Posts: 1,161
Registered: Oct 7, 2002

Re: Introduction
Posted: Feb 6, 2004 1:36 PM

> Jaime,
>
> I have been attending the lunches and making this
> offer. Many of the presenters are a bit shy about
> their language skills. I am working with e.g. bailey
> and Sha Cage to help get participants in the program
> registered and comfortable with the site.
>
> Thanks for your continued input on what we are up to
> here.
>
> Colin

Perhaps it might help if you organized a "coffee" with those of us that have been on the "Forums" for the last year and we can give words of encouragement that can help them overcome the modesty over language use?

coyote

Colin Rusch

Posts: 1,435
Registered: Oct 16, 2002

Re: Introduction
Posted: Feb 6, 2004 1:45 PM

That is a good idea. I will propose it to e.g. and Sha. There is a group of African artists they have been working with who meet regularly.

Lauren DeSteno

Posts: 1,520
From: Minneapolis, MN
Registered: Oct 19, 2001

Re: Introduction
Posted: Feb 6, 2004 7:59 PM

Wonderful ideas. Colin, if you need help or would like to have a coffee + computers session with interested folks, I would be happy to lend a hand helping folks become more comfortable with the site. In fact, would be thrilled and honored to help out.

lauren

Ray Rolfe

Posts: 3,263
From: Northeast Minneapolis
Registered: Sep 5, 2001

Re: Introduction
Posted: Feb 8, 2004 3:29 PM

Mmm coffee..
If I may be an example here, no one need fear naive or innovative use of languages. Just type what you're thinking. It's fun.

~Homeless Artist
(search engines eh Jaime?)

jaime longoria

Posts: 1,161
Registered: Oct 7, 2002

Re: Introduction
Posted: Feb 11, 2004 9:58 AM

> Mmm coffee..
> If I may be an example here, no one need fear naive
> or innovative use of languages. Just type what
> you're thinking. It's fun.
>
> ~Homeless Artist
> (search engines eh Jaime?)

You need to volunteer to talk about your posting on this site. You have the most number of posts. You are more familiar than anyone on the whole scope of the forums.

This makes you an "authority" on this medium.

You owe it to the Art community to give your insight.

It is your duty to your fellow artists.

Coyote honors you for your presence as a constant reminder that art is more about investigation than about status.

Jaime

Colin Rusch

Posts: 1,435
Registered: Oct 16, 2002

Re: Introduction
Posted: Feb 11, 2004 11:58 PM

Today's discussion was interesting. Edmundo Liho, an immigration and identity lawyer, spoke about immigration law and the effects it has on people's lives. For instance, in the last two decades, getting a green card has become enormously difficult. As that process becomes more difficult, economic opportunities are created. He talked about a number of different ways that people were making money off the strict border laws. He also stressed the awful human rights conditions these strict laws are creating. One example he gave was about El Paso, TX. The INS/Dept of Homeland Security stationed pairs of border guards every 100 feet along the river. The result was that people started crossing further and further away from the city. to one side was desert to the other was mountains. Many of the people trying to cross into the country died on their way. He briefly discussed the Bush Administrations new plan and was skeptical of what it would look like after revision. Throughout the conversation, people recognized the fact that multiple industries would shut down overnight if immigrant labor was removed from this country.

As this pertains to art practices, an obvious connection is how these stories are told. So many of them are not told in public venues. And the ones that are rarely make it to mainstream distribution services. A second connection is how art practices of US artists suffer because of the difficulty in bring foreign artists into this country. As we have been discussing lately here, we need a diversity of view points to create meaningful, insight discussions. How that happens in the issue.

Colin

Sandy Agustin

Posts: 9
From: Intermedia Arts
Registered: Feb 20, 2004

Re: Introduction
Posted: Feb 24, 2004 3:53 PM

Hi Colin:

Thanks for getting this introduction up and running.

I just want to clarify a few points - Udgon is the woman's name who came to speak to the group regarding youth issues and thoughts on immigration. Also: Edmundo Lijo is the guest of the Immigration Law and Policy Overview on Wednesday, February 11th. Both were great speakers and had an incredible amount of information to share.

And more about the Brown Bag Series in general: They are meant to act as a stimulant of sorts, to further dialogue about issues pertaining to new immigrants. It's alwo meant to act as a place where people can network, find out what the current facts are -either from a new immigrant personally, or from an immigrant who also works with new immigrant communities.

jaime longoria

Posts: 1,161
Registered: Oct 7, 2002

Re: Introduction
Posted: Dec 14, 2005 8:21 PM

> Hi Colin:
>
> Thanks for getting this introduction up and running.
>
>
> I just want to clarify a few points - Udgon is the
> woman's name who came to speak to the group regarding
> youth issues and thoughts on immigration. Also:
> Edmundo Lijo is the guest of the Immigration Law and
> Policy Overview on Wednesday, February 11th. Both
> were great speakers and had an incredible amount of
> information to share.
>
> And more about the Brown Bag Series in general: They
> are meant to act as a stimulant of sorts, to further
> dialogue about issues pertaining to new immigrants.
> It's alwo meant to act as a place where people can
> network, find out what the current facts are -either
> from a new immigrant personally, or from an
> immigrant who also works with new immigrant
> communities.

One wonders of the commitment of community Arts organization to the issues it "exploits" in it's exhibition funding rationale when it does not come out to confront the Racism in the Governor's Political Spew?

Coyote Infinity

Replies: 14 Pages: 1

Back to Topic List

Topics: [ Previous | Next ]