Every year since 2016, The Art Base in Basalt organizes an exhibition of artwork by students who have recently immigrated to the Roaring Fork Valley.
But this year’s student exhibit looks different since the nonprofit’s leadership were concerned about possible immigration enforcement operations.
The exhibit, titled “Home/Un Hogar,” opens every winter to a public art reception, but fears of a potential ICE raid this year prompted The Art Base to keep the celebration private.
The organization did not advertise the event, issue press releases or launch a social media campaign — like they do for other exhibits — and only the students’ first names were posted alongside their artist statements, which hang next to their artwork.
Alyssa Bozekowski, the communications coordinator at The Art Base, said that the exhibit allows students to express themselves to their new community.
“I think that's what's so powerful about art … putting it on a wall for others to see,” she said. “There's so much that the artist goes through, but then a community gets to share in that as well.”
Five to 10 Basalt High School students typically participate in the program, but this year there were only four.
Despite these changes, Bozekowski said the students persevere through their art.
“[The exhibit] has continued to hold space and offer art as a tool of understanding for teens that are going through a transition and hardship and integration in so many ways, and to have just a moment to reflect,” she said.
The students’ mixed media artwork includes paint, charcoal, collage and mirrors, and the pieces are accompanied by artist statements in both English and Spanish.
The Art Base designed the project to prompt students to explore their journeys to the U.S., what they have carried with them, and how they are developing a new sense of home.
The exhibit invites viewers to witness the students’ stories of transition, memory and hope and runs until Dec. 27 at The Art Base.
