Visual Arts, Gender, and Immigration

Sometimes words don’t tell the whole story. That’s one reason that I am very attracted to the visual arts. I was interested in what I could locate online about the issue of immigration and art. I was surprised to find a New York City gallery hosting a show in June of this year that will contain works of art by artists reacting to the new Arizona anti-immigrant legislation. The El Taller Gallery hosts a number of interesting visual art works on the topic of immigration. I also came across a New York Times article from a few years ago (during the 2006 debated over immigration reform) which discussed visual arts exhibitions around the US that focused on immigration and works by immigrants. Noting the upcoming show at Etaller, I would expect additional visual arts displays on the social justice implications of our debate over immigration in 2010. Progressive visual artists are allies with other groups that struggle for social justice for immigrants and for fair and just immigration reform.

While much of what is written about immigration, and the legal framework that many countries have assembled, focuses on a male perspective. But an every larger portion of immigrants globally are women. While some of these women bring their children to join their husbands already in a host country, many women come on their own and seek their own employment. In addition to their own needs, women immigrants often have responsibility for children and will often be involved in local community organizations that greatly increase the quality of life for the local immigrant community. Women immigrants are also often quite active in local churches and other religious organizations that, like other community centers, will assist immigrants with building language skills and access to social, medical, and educational resources.

As part of my Internet research for resources on women and immigration I came across a fairly thorough bibliography of research on this topic from 1945 to 2000. I also located a blog that features “Women Artists on Immigration” and a website from New American Media that highlights new stories on the topic of women and immigration. Women and immigration and the use of visual arts are just two more aspects of the experience of immigration in the US and the struggle for the just treatment of immigrants.

Unitarian Universalists are committed to honoring the “inherent worth and dignity” of all. This is one of the principles that drive our commitment to justice and fairness in immigration reform. It is why we welcome immigrants and demand that their human rights be respected and why we condemn discrimination and violence directed at the immigrant community. As members of a religious community, the issue of immigration is a key social justice issue that calls for our constant attention. Our voices are needed especially at a time like the present when our nation is involved in a heated debate over how immigration and immigrants should be treated by our government and conservative voices clamor for the most discriminatory and punitive solution.