(Courtesy/Columbus Crossing Borders Project)
On Sunday, December 10, Academy’s visual arts department hosted the traveling art exhibit created by the Columbus Crossing Borders Project, featuring 34 local artists with stops at the University School in Nashville, Xavier University, and the Zanesville Museum of Art before its return to Columbus for a week long engagement here at Academy.
It features a wide array of paintings created by 34 artists, showcasing the stories of refugees and immigrants. The artists were encouraged to work on each other’s paintings, fitting with the theme of “crossing borders.” A motif, color, or other element from a painting was present in the painting to its left, and followed suit to the next work, showcasing a fully-fledged exhibit with many stories to tell.
Designed to portray the different plights of immigrants and refugees, the exhibit sends a strong message to its viewers. No matter what our countries of origins are or anyone’s current struggles, we are all humans in need of community and compassion.
Artist Allen Schwartz said, “Human consciousness is limited, and a lot of it is taken up by what you see. The purpose of our art is to break into that consciousness with something that jolts you.” Schwartz, as the other artists in the project, wants to raise awareness for the refugee crisis in a more relatable way. The featured artwork evokes stronger responses than what we may feel from watching the morning news.
Laurie VanBalen, director of the Columbus Crossing Borders Project, said “One of the missions that we have with the project “Columbus Crossing Borders” is to inspire people to have these conversations, inspire them to do some critical thinking about it, to inspire them to support and have compassion for people who are being forced to leave their homes.”
VanBalen, will be on campus on Tuesday, December 12, for gallery talks with students.
All 34 paintings will eventually be auctioned. Proceeds will be donated to the Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS), a nonprofit organization who sponsored the project, and works with immigrants in our city.
The exhibit will be up from December 10-15.
