[Durham INC] Exhibition Showcases Art by Long-time Durham Residents and Immigrant Community

[City of Durham Communications]

[Title: City of Durham Communications Department]

News Media Contact
Beverly B. Thompson, Director

919.475.2362 (mobile)

CommsMedia at DurhamNC.gov<mailto:CommsMedia at DurhamNC.gov>


News Release
For Immediate Release: June 7, 2023

Exhibition Showcases Art by Long-time Durham Residents and Immigrant Community



DURHAM, N.C. - Durham residents are invited to "Peace by Piece: Art, Belonging, and Community," an art exhibition focusing on themes of migration, home, and belonging.



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What You Need to Know

  *   The City of Durham was one of six organizations awarded $40,000 from Welcoming America to create opportunities to foster belonging and collaboration among immigrant and non-immigrant communities.
  *   The Community Engagement Division of the Neighborhood Improvement Services Department (NIS) engaged more than 300 Durham residents to reflect on the themes of home, migration, and belonging.
  *   Attend the opening reception for the exhibit as part of the Third Friday Durham Art Walk & Gallery Crawl on June 16 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

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This art exhibit will display unique pieces made from three community art projects organized by the Community Engagement Division of NIS and funded by the national nonprofit Welcoming America<https://welcomingamerica.org/> through its Fund to Foster Belonging Grant<https://welcomingamerica.org/news/request-for-proposals-fund-to-foster-belonging/>. The City of Durham was one of six organizations to receive this Grant in 2022 to foster a sense of belonging between immigrant and non-immigrant communities through Do-It-Together projects.

One of the art pieces in the gallery, titled "Common Threads: A Community Quilt," is a quilt designed and sewn by six immigrant women from Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Spain, Morocco, and the Dominican Republic. Each woman designed two blocks of the quilt, one representing life their home country and the other representing life in Durham. "Quilting has been used in many cultures as a way to share cultural heritage, and we wanted to give an opportunity for Durham immigrant women to give us a glimpse into theirs," said Community Engagement Strategist Jennie Belle. The quilt was created through a series of quilting classes led by Toni Mason, owner of Sew Crafty located in downtown Durham. "Interpreters worked with participants to overcome language barriers, allowing them to bond, fall in love with quilt-making, and stay engaged with each other and the work. The participants even created a WhatsApp group called "Costureras del Mundo" (Seamstresses of the World) to keep in touch once the quilting classes were complete," said Belle.

The gallery will also present a set of 25 paintings from a series of workshops for Durham youth called "Painting to Belong." These workshops, led by local artist Antonio Alanis, encouraged immigrant and native-born youth to create art that depicts the concepts of home and belonging from their perspective. "Art is a powerful tool that brings people together, creates a sense of belonging, promotes diversity and inclusivity, and creates a more welcoming and compassionate society," said Alanis. Alanis is also a graduate of the City's Community Partner Development Course<https://www.durhamcommunityengagement.org/cpdc>, which prepares course participants to lead engagement that results in the changes communities want to see.

The last art piece on display will be a "Community Puzzle," which resulted from Durham's first-ever Welcoming Week<https://welcomingweek.org/home/> celebration in September 2022. Welcoming Week is an annual campaign hosted by Welcoming America that celebrates communities working to become welcoming places for all, including immigrants. Durham celebrated by creating a community puzzle demonstrating the community's diverse interconnectedness. At several outreach events, a total of 291 residents responded by drawing or filling in a blank puzzle piece with something they love about their community, whether that was their neighborhood, family, or the place or activity that makes them feel most at home.

To mark the opening of this exhibit, the Durham community is invited to attend the reception for the "Peace by Piece: Art, Belonging, and Community" art gallery as part of the Third Friday Durham Art Walk & Gallery Crawl event on June 16 from 6 to 8 p.m. The reception will include live music, food, and special recognition of participants from the quilt and youth art classes. The exhibit will be on display from mid-June to the end of July at the Durham Bottling Co, 506 Ramseur St., Durham.


For more information about this initiative, contact Jennie Belle of the City's Neighborhood Improvement Services Department Community Engagement Division by phone at (919) 717-4519 or by email<mailto:jennifer.belle at durhamnc.gov>.



About the Neighborhood Improvement Services Department

The Neighborhood Improvement Services Department<https://www.durhamnc.gov/570/Neighborhood-Improvement-Services> works to preserve and improve quality of life conditions for Durham residents, and to encourage active participation in neighborhood redevelopment and public policy and decision-making dialogue.



About Welcoming America

Welcoming America is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that leads a movement of inclusive communities becoming more prosperous by ensuring everyone belongs. We believe that all people, including immigrants, are valued contributors and vital to the success of our communities and shared future. Through the Welcoming Network, we work to help communities develop the roadmap they need to create welcoming policies and share new approaches to inclusion to create an environment where everyone can truly thrive.



About the Fund to Foster Belonging

The Fund to Foster Belonging supports the work of local leaders building bridges between immigrant and non-immigrant communities while fostering belonging for all.



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