Exploring the Relational Complexities of Learning ART Together: A Museum Based Art Program for Migrant Women

In this article, researchers discuss how relational theory (Bourriaud, 2002) can be used to understand the experiences of five migrant women participating in a museum art program called Learning ART Together. We posit that museums and art centers, like many institutions, are constantly working in tension with rigid institutional structures, financial demands, and formalized curricula as they strive to IJEA Vol. 18 No. 10 http://www.ijea. org/v18n10/ 2 provide programming for migrants. Such structures challenge possibilities for relationship building and transformative practices. Findings reveal that by using a relational lens, we are better able to understand how dialogue creates alternative social exchanges which honor and challenge “everydayness” and shape new ways of being in the world. Our research revealed that relational theory offers insights into the ways participants create alternative sites of sociability suggesting implications for pedagogy that aims to create equitable and just experiences. Exploring the Relational Complexities of Learning ART Together: A Museum Based Art Program for Migrant Women Beginning around 9:30 AM every Monday women trickle in, their children following close behind as they make their way to one of four art studios. Swept up by caregivers, the children join their new friends in the Imagination Station studio. Jaymie and Liz greet the women chatting about weekend events, family, and challenges of the day over coffee, strawberries and muffins. After a while, the studios became a hub of activity as the women talk and laugh while busily working on their art. Occasionally one of the children joins her mother to make art (see Figure 1). Figure 1. Making Art Together Sanders-Bustle et. al: Exploring the Relational Complexities of Learning ART Together 3 This scenario represents the swirl of social activity common to Learning ART Together (LAT), an art program for immigrant and refugee women at the GreenHill Center for North Carolina Art. Designed to provide art experiences in a comfortable and safe space, as well as strengthen self-esteem, build community, and encourage entrepreneurship, LAT is a grantfunded program with many goals. The degree to which the goals aligned with aims to create a just and transformative experience for the women is the subject of this paper. In this article, we describe the activities of LAT and use relational theory as a lens to better understand what it means to learn art together. In particular, our inquiry focuses on understanding how LAT, when viewed through a relational lens, can yield insights into the ways social interaction around artmaking can produce “alternative sites of sociability” (Bourriaud, 2002). We position that museums and art centers, like many institutions, are constantly working in tension with rigid institutional structures, financial demands, and formalized curricula as they strive to provide programming for migrants. Such structures challenge possibilities for relationship building and consequently possibilities for transformative practice. While LAT takes place on a micro-level in a museum-like setting, the need for such work has been amplified by recent world events that have resulted in one of the largest migrations of human beings since World War II. Thousands have been displaced, drastically unsettling lives and hurling people into a kind of purgatorial space between a life before and a life after. The effects are dramatic and far-reaching and shine a stark unforgiving light on our capacity as human beings to take action as social-cultural, socioeconomic, political, and religious beliefs polarize and divide. Heated debates amongst citizens, politicians, and countries further divide as amnesiacs fail to recognize migration as a human response while history unfortunately repeats itself marking barbed lines between those who belong and those who don’t belong. While not new, unrest coupled with increased mobility has resulted in population shifts across the globe as many choose to resettle as immigrants or, in the case of refugees, find themselves displaced as a result of conflict, unrest, or oppressive living conditions. The most fragile, refugees make arduous journeys after fleeing conflict or persecution, spending as many as 10 years in refugee camps often experiencing great trauma before arriving in the United States (“Center for New North Carolinians,” n.d.). Once in the U.S., men and women are expected to reach a satisfactory level of self-sufficiency including overcoming language barriers, limited educational service, lack of secure jobs, crowded housing, and limited health care, and all within a very short period of time (Garrett, 2006). Overwhelming challenges coupled with limited access to community resources often lead to poverty and isolation, which greatly impacts identity, self-esteem and a sense of belonging. IJEA Vol. 18 No. 10 http://www.ijea. org/v18n10/ 4 These challenges contribute to a sense of placelessness that goes beyond setting or location manifesting as an embodied sense of loss. Gradle (2008) explained, that place is “most often married to memory, imagination, and our embodied experiences in such a way that words like emplaced, displaced, replaced, or out of place conjure up meaning that are felt immediately and viscerally” (p. 7). For immigrant and refugee women placelessness is particularly profound as many come from male-centered cultures with scripted expectations making it difficult for them to integrate into American culture, further exacerbating feelings of loneliness and alienation. Given the magnitude of challenges faced by immigrant and refugee populations, we recognized that the art experiences we offered the women at GreenHill needed close examination. Much like the intent of relational artists, we hoped for social change around the making of art, and aimed to provide experiences that would strengthen self-esteem, create equitable interactions and perhaps transform insights. We also hoped that our inquiry would inspire us “to rethink the language and practice of pedagogy” (Irwin & Donoghue, 2012, p. 222). Engaging Newcomers in Museums and Art Centers Increasingly U.S. museums and art centers are playing a central role engaging newcomers in a range of activities aimed at reinforcing language acquisition and teaching art techniques. They build community through activities that honor cultural traditions, nurture self-esteem, and instill a sense of agency. Art museums and arts centers are particularly well placed to act as inclusive sites devoted to building diverse audiences through dynamic and socially relevant programming that encourages community building. Falk and Dierking (2013) pointed out that 21-century museums “will increasingly be institutions committed to public service— institutions that reach out and attract new audiences and work to significantly address pressing civic, educational, economic, environmental, and social issues” (p. 316). The capacity of a museum or gallery to meet the needs of immigrants and refugees is at the nexus of much recent activity. However, museums and galleries recognize that barriers uniquely related to museum settings such as language acquisition, inaccessible infrastructure, costs associated with enjoying a museum, failure to represent non-Eurocentric work, and not feeling accepted by the community, exist and greatly diminish immigrants or refugees’ desire or ability to visit a museum (Dawson, 2014). Farell and Medvedeva (2010) explain, There appears to be broad consensus amongst museum professionals that museums must do more to promote social inclusion. Despite the proliferation of outreach programs intended to engage “non-traditional” museum audiences, the museum-going population continues to become an increasingly less-diverse Sanders-Bustle et. al: Exploring the Relational Complexities of Learning ART Together 5 group. This is problematic when one considers that minorities currently constitute only 9% of museums’ core visitors. (p. 5) Unfortunately, newcomers fall into this minority; a population whose unique set of challenges further complicates access and inclusion. In recent years, more museums have responded to this need. In partnership with the Queens Library and the Queens Museum of Art’s, the New New Yorkers program offers immigrants and refugees a variety of art, technology, and English language acquisition courses provided at no cost (Queens Museum of Art, n.d.). Using visual art as a catalyst for the development of literacy and critical thinking, Queensborough Community College (QCC) and the Nassau County Museum of Art launched Culture and Literacy through Art (CALTA) whose vision includes creating “a dynamic environment where museums provide authentic, meaningful and engaging experiences to immigrant communities and where learning, enjoyment and civic engagement support the development of the individual’s voice” (CALTA21, n.d.). Designed for immigrants, the program aims to strengthen language acquisition while making the visual arts relevant and accessible. For many museums, community outreach is seen as an important means for engaging immigrant/refugee populations in their communities. Recognizing the important role that art plays in the lives of immigrant families, in 2014 the Denver Art Museum (DAM) brought art workshops based on the museum's collections to immigrant communities through six library branches. DAM states, "Art plays an important role in the lives of children, their families, and their communities and their creations of self-expression and imagination echo the immigrant experience across generations" (Amanda, 2014, para.1). The workshops culminated in a special exhibition of participant’s work. The Whitney Museum of American Art partners with the ELESAIR (English Language and Employment Services for Adult Immigrants and Refugees), a YMCA literacy program, to engage “new Americans and speakers of other languages in conve