On The Move: Migration/Emigration/Immigration. A New Exhibit at Gualala Arts.

“ON THE MOVE: Migration/Emigration/Immigration” opens in the Burnett Gallery at Gualala Arts on Friday, October 7, 2022, with a reception scheduled from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Curating the exhibit are Mirka Knaster and Paula Haymond.

Human beings have been on the move ever since they could propel themselves on two feet. The earliest indigenous peoples on any continent or island once arrived from elsewhere. No matter how long we’ve resided in a certain place, at one point someone in our family’s long history, or even our own history reveals family members who emigrated from one country and immigrated to another. And maybe the migration didn’t stop there, but continued across state or provincial lines.

All kinds of creatures migrate, sometimes thousands of miles over land, through the sky or deep waters. Yet, barriers keep animals from roaming and individuals from crossing borders or entering harbors, denying refuge, often to those who need it most. Some factors push us out of our homeland and other factors pull us into another territory. Those factors range from civil war, genocide, terrorism, gang violence, ethnic/religious/political persecution, environmental disasters leading to drought, famine, and loss of land to the simple desire for new adventures and opportunities.

Clearly this is a timely and highly relevant exhibit, due to hotly contested immigration issues that have affected our local Mexican community as well as the entire world. We also have a diverse community of individuals who have come here from a wide variety of countries or who were born to immigrant parents.

The exhibit, “On the move: Migration/Emigration/Immigration”, continues through Sunday, November 20, 2022.