Throwback – Inspiration to Tell Your Own Belonging Story.

Author: Wendy Buendia

Love for Immigrants: Building Bridges for Belonging- Art Gathering

In this environment, it was okay, even encouraged, to hand a kid a pair of scissors. The collage art workshop was in full swing!

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, people of all ages, all artists, streamed into a room ready to dive into a chaos of paper and glue. Love 4 Immigrants’ Building Bridges for Belonging – Family Art Workshop focused on the theme of We All Belong. This project was made possible through collaboration with Luby Ismail, and funding support from The Legacy Project. Through this creative partnership, Love for Immigrants and local artists explored and reflected on the sense of belonging within immigrant communities.  With the help of a guided artistic activity by the artist Anayelsi, concepts such as the exploration of identity, storytelling, and community were examined through everyone’s individual collages. Each participant created their own individual artwork, but the atmosphere soon filled with camaraderie as magazines exchanged hands. 

Each participant’s artistic vision and individuality shone through in their artwork, but there were also clearly bits and pieces of their fellow artists’ interpretation of the prompts, truly making it a layered collage. As a participant myself and a self-diagnosed introvert, initially I was entirely focused on what belonging within my community meant to me. At first, my ideas were entirely derived from my own experiences alone. However, as I started exchanging magazines back and forth with my fellow strangers, we noticed some recurring elements that appeared throughout our collages. Similar fonts, colors, and shapes would peek out and wink at us, inviting us into each other’s masterpieces.   

After almost an hour of cutting and pasting, it was time to rejoin as a group and discuss what came from our collages. A giant blue poster posed three questions: (1) one thing that makes our family unique, (2) one thing our family shares with others, and (3) one way our family helps others feel included. As people presented their collages, their newfound friendships were brought up, increasingly prompting people to share their collages and their experiences. 

If you did not have a chance to attend our special gathering we invite you to reflect on these questions regarding belonging and share your story with us through the Oria App: https://partner.missionoria.com/c/building-bridges-for-belonging-668d4e.