Art Exhibit at Mayborn Museum Complex Focuses on the Current Central American Refugee Crisis
Media Contact: Lori Fogleman, 254-710-6275
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WACO, Texas (April 9, 2017) – Baylor University’s Mayborn Museum Complex will host the Northern Triangle Art Exhibit by Borderland Collective from April 19 through Sept. 16. The Office of the Provost’s Social Innovation Collaboration Initiative (BAY-SIC) will host a conversation at 6 p.m. on opening night to discuss the event’s focus: The Central American refugee crisis.
Based out of Texas State University, Borderland Collective was founded in 2007 by public school teacher Ryan Sprott and artist Jason Reed. The long-term art and educational project is designed to engage community members with complex issues in order to foster discussion on those issues.
“The Social Innovation Collaboration class has been like no other course I’ve taken at Baylor,” said Kristopher Ruiz, a political science major from Round Rock, Texas. “Baylor has given us the opportunity to tackle the issue of child migration and make a difference. The purpose of bringing Northern Triangle to the Mayborn Museum is to spread awareness to the Baylor and Waco communities about child migration and address the misconceptions surrounding it. This project will be the first one to stem from our class, and we hope this is only the beginning.”
The initiative behind the project, BAY-SIC, is designed to bring together faculty, staff and students in efforts to discover and develop innovative ways to promote human flourishing. The Provost’s Office asked the initiative group to develop multidisciplinary teams to orient teaching, research, learning and service toward intervening in some of the “wicked problems” facing society today.
The issue of child migration – children fleeing violence in Mexico and Central America’s Northern Triangle – is one of those vexing challenges, and led to the course “Child Migration in the Western Hemisphere.” The course is taught by Victor Hinojosa, Ph.D., associate professor of political science in the Honors College at Baylor, and Lori Baker, Ph.D., associate professor of anthropology and vice provost for strategic initiatives, collaboration and leadership development, who have spent their careers studying and working on various issues in migration in Latin America.
“This has been the most exciting and challenging teaching experience of my career,” Hinojosa said. “Every day I am inspired by these students who are bringing their skills, academic training and passion to bear on an incredibly challenging problem. They are doing great work and are poised to make a real difference. I am very excited to have Northern Triangle opening at Baylor and I look forward to the conversations this exhibit will foster on our campus and in our community.”
In addition to Ruiz, two other students in the “Child Migration in the Western Hemisphere” will be introducing the project, the child migration crisis and the process of getting into contact with Borderland Collective at the opening night panel discussion. These students are Caroline Capili, a political science major, and Andrew Patterson, a political science and economics major.
The exhibition will bring attention to the migrant crisis along the U.S./Mexico border, and the long and complicated history of U.S. intervention in which it is irrevocably entangled. The term Northern Triangle refers to three Central American countries: Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. The exhibit contains pieces collected along the border, pictures drawn by child migrants, news articles and photographs. More information about the project can be found on the Borderland Collective website.
“This initiative has given me an opportunity to do meaningful work that will hopefully impact the way that people feel or talk about the issue of child migration,” Capili said. “I think that this ‘wicked problem’ can be solved with the help of students, professors and leaders who are passionate about the issue. I have been able to interact with experts in the field and learn about migration from multiple perspectives. The experiences that I’ve had through this class have helped shape me as an individual, and I hope that the experience that people have through this project will help shape them, too.”
Following the introduction of the project and its focus, Mark Menjivar, Jason Reed and Erina Duganne of Borderland Collective will open a conversation about the Northern Triangle in a panel discussion. Hinojosa, Baker and Andy Hogue, Ph.D., lecturer and director of the philanthropy and public service program in the Honors College, will discuss their work in this area and their connection to this project.
“Coming from a state like Wisconsin, I never had much of an exposure to the child migrant crisis before I signed up for this class,” Patterson said. “I never imagined I would develop such an interest in this problem and become passionate about helping these kids, and I never would have imagined bringing an exhibit like Northern Triangle to Baylor. This class has been one of the highlights of my college career and I am immensely grateful for everyone who made this class possible and helped us make this project into a reality.”
The opening night event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served. If individuals wish to visit the exhibit after April 19, the price is included with museum admission. Baylor students receive free admission with their student IDs.
Office of the Provost website. —>
by Brooke Battersby , student newswriter, (254) 710-6805
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ABOUT THE MAYBORN MUSEUM COMPLEX
Located on the Baylor University campus, the Mayborn Museum Complex features a natural science and cultural history museum focusing on Central Texas with walk-in dioramas, including one on the Waco Mammoth Site, and exploration stations for geology, paleontology, archaeology and natural history. In addition, two floors of hands-on discovery rooms encourage learning for all ages. Visit the museum online at www.baylor.edu/mayborn.
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