THIS IS A PREVIEW. IF YOU HAVE A PASSWORD FOR THE ONLINE EXHIBIT, PLEASE PROCEED TO: The Full Text version • Short Text version (English or Spanish) • Early Childhood version (English or Spanish) • a small gallery of LGBTQ asylum-seekers and immigrants from the exhibit • School Curriculum available for download Contact us to discuss bringing the physical exhibition to your community, or for a password to view or host this exhibit virtually.Exhibit PREVIEW
BUILDING BRIDGES
Portraits of Immigrants and Refugees
Black and White photos © Mark Chester. Color photos © Gigi Kaeser. Interviews by Peggy Gillespie
“We are a nation made strong by people like you: people who traveled long distances, overcame great obstacles and made tremendous sacrifices, all to provide a better life for themselves and their families”
– Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Building Bridges includes photographs and interviews with people who have come to the United States as immigrants or refugees from all over the world. The exhibit seeks to challenge damaging myths and stereotypes about immigrants and refugees as a way to prevent bullying and hatred towards this marginalized group of people.
Khizr Khan, Gold Star Father, Muslim, and immigrant, spoke at the 2016 National Democratic Convention about how his 27-year-old son, an Army captain, died in a car bombing in 2004 in Iraq as he tried to save other troops. We are proud that Mr. Kahn saw and loved Building Bridges and spoke at an exhibit opening in the DC area.
HEAR THEIR VOICES.
Alyssa Friedrich and Paulina Palomo were student interns at Family Diversity Projects in 2021, during which time they created two powerful films. They interviewed Eduardo Samaniego and Jude Samuels, two of the people featured in Building Bridges, and also made a film about DACA students on their campus at Central Connecticut State University.
“Building Bridges is crucial in this time of political divisiveness. The exhibit, which seamlessly combines exquisite photos with moving text, breaks down stereotypes about immigrants and refugees in a unique and powerful way. It makes an indelible impression on the heart and soul of everyone who sees it. I urge you to support Family Diversity Projects and to bring this exhibit to your community.”
-Bill Newman, ACLU of Massachusetts attorney, Western Massachusetts Legal Office
HOST THE EXHIBIT
“Thank you so much for working with us on the Building Bridges Exhibit. The opening reception was a hit. When I asked one class how many of them had a generation of their family who was not born in the US, the furthest generation away we got were grandparents. That is to say, this school is a school of immigrants and so to see their own stories reflected in a beautifully curated show was both meaningful and refreshing. Teachers and students have walked in the library and got caught up reading the diverse stories that now cover our walls."
— Holly Brown, Bard High School Early College, 2023
