Profiles - Projects

Amreeka chronicles the adventures of Muna, a single mother who leaves the West Bank with Fadi, her teenage son, with dreams of an exciting future in the promised land of small town Illinois. In America, as her son navigates high school hallways the way he used to move through military checkpoints, the indomitable Muna scrambles together a new life cooking up falafel burgers as well as hamburgers at the local White Castle.

WMMT’s mission is to be a 24 hour voice of mountain people’s music, culture, and social issues, to provide broadcast space for creative expression and community involvement in making radio, and to be an active participant in discussion of public policy that will benefit coalfield communities and the Appalachian region as a whole.

Named one of the best shows of 2007 by the Chicago Sun-Times, Aquí Estoy (Spanish for "I am here") was based on months of interviews conducted by Albany Park Theater Project youth ensemble members about the lives of undocumented immigrants in Chicago. Aquí Estoy was composed of two provocative theater pieces: "Amor de Lejos" chronicled the tough lives of day laborers who immigrated from Central America and Mexico; "Nine Digits" told the moving story of a Chicago teen who had been an undocumented immigrant since his parents brought him to the United States from Colombia at the age of six.

“Around the Corner” puts the contributions of immigrants and refugees on display for people to learn about new Americans. In 2003 nine Metropolitan State University photography students partnered with Urban Coalition 2003 to document the lives and contributions of immigrants and refugees in the Twin Cities. Students worked with civic leaders and community-based businesses and organizations that represent the economic, cultural, and civic changes that have been affected by immigrants and refugees.

Aids underserved youth in recovery from psychological trauma through art therapy and healing public art installations. Mental illness carries a stigma, especially in minority communities, many suffer in silent shame internalizing their emotions leading to severe depression and suicide. Art stimulates the brain, creating a chemical response of dopamine production, beneficial for those battling depression. Early identification, evaluation and treatment are essential to recovery and resiliency.

Support for 5902 Clemons Vacant Lot Redesign and Activation

“Art of the Vote” is a series of photographs which used civic engagement as its theme to record voter registration initiatives in the 2004 national election. Partnering with National Voice, a national voter registration initiative, over the summer, students created a series of photographs which National Voice used as promotion on its website. Exhibitions of the work were held at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the Minnesota Center for Book Arts.

Arte Es Vida is an ongoing program of the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center that addresses issues of cultural equity and democracy and examines “the role of artistic and cultural expression in a society that inherits the deep wounds, economic and political disparities, and continuing practices of injustice that are the legacy of cultural domination in the United States.” It explores cultural grounding–the concept that a strong sense of selfhood and identity, rooted in creative expression and cultural practice, is necessary to empower marginalized communities and individuals to participate

Arts & Social Change is a network of arts administrators, artists, social service professionals, government representatives, and social justice leaders from around the Pacific Northwest. We address the role that diverse arts play in creating awareness, inspiring understanding and developing policies to address cultural equity and social change.