Exhibit focused on immigrants, refugees on display at Penn State Fayette
This picture of Victorien Ndounou of Gabon is part of the "Building Bridges" exhibit currently on display at Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus. (photo courtesy of Mark Chester).
Submitted
This picture of Mary Kakesa (third from left) and her children of the Democratic Republic of Congo is part of the “Building Bridges” exhibit currently on display at Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus. (photo courtesy of Family Diversity Projects).
Submitted
This picture of Anna Aneila Litra of Poland is part of the “Building Bridges” exhibit currently on display at Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus. (photo courtesy of Mark Chester).
This picture of Violet Uwera of Rwanda is part of the "Building Bridges" exhibit currently on display at Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus. (photo courtesy of Family Diversity Projects).
A lesson in diversity will be highlighted with an exhibit focused on immigrants and refugees being displayed now through March 29 at the library at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
The exhibit “Building Bridges” is presented by the Massachusetts’ based nonprofit Family Diversity Projects, which was co-founded by journalist Peggy Gillespie and photographer Gigi Kaeser nearly 20 years ago.
Gillespie said she and her husband are both white and their daughter is bi-racial.
The idea to start the Family Diversity Projects came about after their daughter returned to pre-school after Christmas break with a new doll that had “brown skin.”
Another pre-school student asked their daughter whey she had a doll that was such an ugly color and Gillespie said it was then that she realized she had to shed light on the issue.
“She didn’t say it to be mean,” Gillespie said. “It came from just the way society is set up where brown skin is not as good as white skin.”
And so Gillespie teamed up with Kaeser, who was also her daughter’s pre-school teacher at the time, to put together the first exhibit, entitled “Of Many Colors: Portraits of Multi-Racial Families.”
Over the last 20 years, the duo has put together a number of other exhibits that puts faces and personal stories to the subjects of mental illness, disabilities, transgender individuals, LGBT families as well as LGBT individuals in the clergy.
“Building Bridges” is their latest endeavor.
“When the last election happened, we were already thinking about doing one on immigrants and refugees, so it made it even more imperative to do it immediately,” Gillespie said.
They began looking for immigrants and refugees in Massachusetts who might be willing to participate.
Photographer Mark Chester heard about their efforts and got in touch with them because he had already created a photo project where he had taken pictures of about 400 immigrants who already had their citizenship.
They teamed up, with Gillespie getting in touch with some of the individuals and families Chester had photographed to get their stories.
“They talked about all of the contributions they’ve made to our society since they’ve been here and how upset they were with the current government’s views,” she said.
They finished the exhibit in the summer of 2017, and it was sent out as a traveling exhibit that fall. So far, the exhibit has made its way to at least 100 different locations, including churches, libraries, corporations and schools.
The exhibit features photographs by Chester and Kaeser, along with interviews with people who have come to the United States as immigrants or refugees.
Building Bridges is co-sponsored by the ACLU and Center for New Americans in Massachusetts.
Chad Long, director of student affairs at Penn State Fayette, said they try to give students a wide array of events and activities outside the classroom that can range in topics from cultural and diversity to leadership and service.
“This semester, because immigration is a pretty big topic on a national level, we thought this exhibit would be a good fit,” he said. “This way students and members of the public can read and learn more about immigrants and refugees on a more personal level.
“They can hear their stories directly and understand the impact immigration has had on them and their families,” Long added. “It puts a face to the subject matter.”
With a traveling exhibit, it lends itself to being more accessible than an event that is held once because the campus is able to play host to the exhibit for almost three weeks.
“This allows for people to come in at their leisure to view the exhibit, which has about 20 different families featured,” Long said.
The exhibit will be available 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays and 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Fridays through March 29.