NAC Corner

Young immigrants get chance to express themselves

How do young cultural newcomers integrate their past and their present? What feelings are elicited by the trauma of dislocation? How do these young people navigate life circumstances suffused by both loss and opportunity?

The June exhibit at the Norwich Arts Council Gallery explores these questions in work created by young cultural newcomers from Cape Verde, Haiti, Puerto Rico and Peru. All attend Norwich Free Academy.

Artistic self-expression was new to these students. Added to that was the extra challenge of applying their developing aesthetic to the creation of a narrative piece of art. Collage was chosen as the single medium in the show because of its narrative possibilities and its range of expressiveness. Guiding the students were exhibit Artistic Co-Directors Lyndsay Meiklem and Christelle Lachapelle.

Says Lyndsay, “We tried to provide individual guidance to aid the students in creating their own stories and encouraged them to use the wide variety of art supplies we had on hand. We would often have them stand back and take a look at their works in progress so they could see what others may interpret and take away from viewing the work.”

The result was art that does not sweeten or prettify the immigration experience. Instead, the work examines, with subjectivity, candor and acute feeling, the challenges and interior transformations that come with being a novice in a new culture. “We saw students,” says Christelle, “who had no previous art training blossom as artists right before our eyes. It was very gratifying to give these students a safe place to express their very complex feelings.”

Excerpts from interviews conducted with each NFA student will amplify their artwork, along with the preliminary ‘process pieces’ that the students created as they worked through visual issues of expression. Accompanying the collages will be portraits of the students and photographs of them involved in the creative process by photographer Jessie Wraichette.

The exhibit will also include smaller collages by middle school students who interpret their immigration experiences and those of their parents and grandparents. These students are participants in the ASPIRE after-school program at Kelly and Teachers middle schools. NFA students from the English Language Learners biology class contributed to the gallery window installation.

In response to the students’ work, Lyndsay and Christelle will show their own collages that reflect upon their immigrant grandparents from Italy and Sweden, respectively.

Entertainment at the reception will be provided by the Andean ensemble Mestizo Manta. The group, made up of Peruvian musicians, will play the beautifully percussive traditional melodies of Peru, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina, Ecuador and other countries neighboring the Andean region. Their native instruments include the zamponas (panpipes), palo de lluvia (rain stick), shacshas (seeds) and charango (Andean guitar). They will perform in the gallery and, weather permitting, on Broadway.

-Elanah Sherman

“Distances Traveled: Young Immigrant Lives in Collage”
Presented by the Norwich Cultural Arts and History Project, a sponsored initiative of the Norwich Arts Council
Featured artists: Sveliza Lopes Barros, Marilu Barrientos, Belinda Belfort, Lindsey Celestin, Emanuel de Pina and Yobany Vargas

60-64 Broadway, Norwich
June 5 - June 27, 2009
Reception: First Friday, June 5, 6:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Gallery hours: Wednesdays, 12-4; Thursdays, 12-4; Fridays, 12-6; Saturdays, 12-4
Funding for this event was provided by the Norwich Sachem Fund.
The Norwich Arts Council Gallery is accessible to people with disabilities.