Photo: Institute of Immigration Research
In February this year, The Davis Museum at Wellesley College in Massachusetts removed all pieces of art contributed or donated by immigrants.
This month, George Mason University’s Institute for Immigration Research, took immigrant artworks to a much wider public in Arlington’s Clarendon Ballroom for display.
The two events with their apparently contrasting styles of messaging emphasized the one same point in the political season of retrogressive ideas of walls and travel bans – immigrants enrich American society and culture with the wealth of creativity and diversity they bring to the United States.
Helen Zoghaib’s work
The Davis Museum’s deliberate act of making the museum empty at several spots and the Institute of Immigration Research’s exposition of immigrant art, in fact, highlight what could be the defining debate of our time – the absence and presence of immigrants both matter immensely to the United States.
The IIR’s display of immigrant art, as suggested by the name of the event – Celebrating the Contributions of Immigrant Artists as Entrepreneurs – also said a lot about the impact immigrants have on the U.S. economy.
According to McKinsey Global Institute’s, immigrants who came from around the world contributed about $ 2 trillion to the GDP in the United States in 2015, making America the largest beneficiary of talented workforce in a variety of fields.
But across the Clarendon Ballroom in Arlington this month it was art that roared with a splash of colors, melodies, dances, photographs and calligraphy.
Artist Edith Graciela Sanabria with her work
The featured artists included Manal Deeb, a Palestinian-American visual artist, Edith Graceila Sanabria, a Bolivian-American artist and poet, Yosief Habte, an Eritrean, whose work reach American shores ahead of him, Helen Zughaib, a Lebanese artist with a rich European and Middle Eastern experience, Ahmad Abumraighi, a calligrapher from Jordan, Ernesto Bravo, a Chilean musician and Azucar student performance dance group of George Mason University.
Their works represented an enthralling tapestry of creative arts – making America one of the few countries that have such diverse multicultural communities living side by side.
“It’s a wonderful feeling to be recognized,” said Edith Graciela Sanbria, whose art creations range from paintings to poetry and fashion designing to photography.
Calligrapher Ahmad Abumraighi
James, Witte, Director IIR, said the Institute focuses on reliable and unbiased research results for an informed debate on immigration issues, and expressed appreciation for those who support the work. He thanked Acting Director Shannon Davis, Executive Director Monica Isaac and Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Justin Lowry for making the event possible.
A number of immigrant organizations including Pakistan American Business Association, GMU’s Korean Studies Center, and the Department of Sociology and Anthropology sponsored the event.
Armando Trull, an Emmy award-winning Latino journalist associated with WAMU 88.5 FM, the NPR news station in Washington D.C., encapsulated the spirit of the evening, when he observed that America would not have been what it is today without immigrants and their countless contributions.
This is a great article to share with the world . Immigrants are a source
Of empowerment and renewal to the country, not only cheap labor as well as
Creative and experience