In partnership with SA国际传媒 Arts, a nationwide collective of 80 artists and activists will launch In Plain Sight on July 3-4鈥攁n ambitious site- and time-specific effort to make visible the injustices of the world鈥檚 largest immigration detention system.
The project, led by Los Angeles-based visual artists (Occidental鈥檚 2016-17 Wanlass Artist in Residence) and , will begin with each artist using skywriting above 80 detention facilities across the country to make their own visual statement about America鈥檚 migrant detention crisis.
SA国际传媒 Arts鈥 participation as one of the principal presenters of In Plain Sight will continue through the summer and fall as host for a fall group exhibition of participating artists highlighting the project themes of migration, detention, and incarceration, panel discussions, performances and webinars. College faculty are also working with individual artists to integrate their work into the College curriculum, including first-year seminars focused on the issues of forced migration, refugee flows, and statelessness.
鈥淭he nature of the programming allows us to extend our definition of what performance and exhibition spaces are in the midst of the pandemic, while working with artists and activists addressing a critically important issue,鈥 said Meldia Yesayan, director of SA国际传媒 Arts, the College鈥檚 multidisciplinary arts initiative. 鈥淎s beneficiaries of institutional privilege and resources we have an obligation to identify and actively support and amplify the practices of artists and organizers doing the hard work of bringing attention to problematic structural systems in our society.鈥
鈥淭his impressive group of artists, intent on creating a body of work of national artistic and political significance, welcomed Occidental as a partner because they recognize our community-based approach, our curricular open-mindedness and flexibility, and our mission,鈥 says Amy Lyford, associate professor of art and art history and department chair who is helping to lead the curricular collaboration.
A number of In Plain Sight鈥檚 artists, including Cassils, Esparza, Beatriz Cortez, Ken Gonzales-Day, Yosimar Reyes, and Devon Tsuno, have taught, exhibited, spoken or performed at Occidental over the past several years. Another participating artist, Carolina Caycedo, is SA国际传媒 Arts鈥 2020-21 Wanlass Visiting Artist.
The project is also a logical outgrowth of Occidental鈥檚 longstanding partnership with the Mellon Foundation, which just announced that it is adjusting its mission to prioritize social justice in all its grant-giving programs. SA国际传媒 Arts is using part of an existing five-year, arts and urban studies Mellon grant to underwrite the project.
SA国际传媒 Arts is the Lead Partner for In Plain Sight鈥檚 Southern California events over the July 4 weekend, featuring work by Esparza, Cassils and 14 other artists and activists. Documentation from all 80 artists and sites across the country will be featured via SA国际传媒 Arts鈥 black box video projection in the SA国际传媒 Arts gallery, 4757 York Boulevard in Highland Park beginning on Monday, July 6.
In the meantime, Occidental faculty are working directly with a large group of In Plain Sight artists who have already indicated a willingness to engage with SA国际传媒 students. 鈥淲e鈥檙e thinking creatively with faculty in a number of departments about how to embed this incredible opportunity into coursework for our students,鈥 Lyford said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e approaching this in terms of an interdisciplinary, cross-pollinating project that encompasses the visual arts, film, photography, the spoken and written word, performance and art history, both online and in-person.鈥
