New Weber State art exhibit, 'We Are All Migrants,' puts focus on migration

OGDEN — With immigration a focus of intense national debate, an art exhibit opens Friday at Weber State University that takes inspiration from the never-ending urge of people to flow from one place to another.

"We Are All Migrants" launches Friday at the Marty Elizabeth Dee Shaw Gallery on the campus of the Ogden university. An opening reception goes from 6-8 p.m., but other activities are planned in connection with the exhibit, which continues through April 3, in the weeks to come.

Andrea Ferber, gallery and exhibitions director for Shaw, located inside the Kimball Arts Building, noted the timeliness of the issue. But it's not necessarily a new topic for the artists in the exhibit.

"The current debate over immigration makes this an opportune moment to learn and consider different perspectives, but the artists in the exhibition have been creating work around this for many years," she said. "It's also inspired by our local community and the history of Ogden, which is rooted in immigration."

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One of the artists in the exhibit, Nancy E. Rivera, is a Weber State graduate. The others come from around the United States, Mexico and the Dominican Republic. They work in a range of media, including prints, photographs, paintings, sculpture and installation.

Promotional material for the exhibit notes that both humans and animals have always migrated "for different climates, for opportunities, for safety, for love, for necessity and curiosity." While the issue may be the focus of particularly intense discussion now, the topic is not a new one, and the exhibit aims to explore the issue from a more personal perspective.

"The nuance of real lives and specific places gets erased in times of polemical rhetoric. This group exhibition brings together perspectives from artists whose work addresses the beauty and complexities of human migration. In the end, we are all just passing through different spaces on the same planet," the promotional material reads.

Ferber stressed the timelessness of the immigration issue. María del Mar González-González, art historian at the gallery, and Camela Corcoran, exhibitions manager, helped bring the exhibit together. "This exhibit explores how migrating is so often a shared experience, both for humans and animals. The way we talk about it changes, but it's also a historical constant," Ferber said.

Several other events and talks are scheduled through April 3, in connection with the exhibit. Next Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 6 p.m., Rivera, one of the artists, will offer a talk in room 143 of the Kimball Arts building.

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