Crossing Borders 2023

CROSSING BORDERS 2023

On View October 14 2023 through January 14, 2024
Opening Reception | October 14 | 6-8pm

Gallery Hours:
Wednesday – Friday, 12-5pm
Saturday, 12-6pm
Sunday, 12-5pm

Gallery Closed:
Thanksgiving Day | November 24
Christmas Day | December 25

What makes a border? Geographic and cultural borders have come to define individual and group identity.  Crossing Borders features artists who investigate the experience of immigrating and the act of remembering; each artist utilizes their heritage, and their artistic practice as a way of keeping their family legacy relevant as the artist continues to make their own way in a contemporary time and place. This intergenerational exhibition looks at myriad ways in which residents have come to this region; some calling it home and some continuously travelling between places.

ArtsWestchester first debuted Crossing Borders in 2015, curated by Kathleen Reckling. The exhibition focused on ten first-generation artists and people who had newly become citizens to the United States. Almost a decade later, there have been paradigm shifts as well as perennial issues stemming from migration: walls were proposed, pandemics caused racial vilification, and identities were weaponized. In a new climate for immigration, the scope for this exhibition needed to be expanded – how do third-generation artists navigate heritage one step farther from its source? How do we express multiculturalism?

Reckling, ArtsWestchester’s COO, says about Crossing Borders: “[Art can] give voice the hundreds of thousands of individuals who try to make their place in a different country. While each artist has their own unique story, the themes expressed in their work transcend the individual and speaks to a universal experience of remembering where we came from while navigating new territory and customs. Taken together, these works are a reminder that tradition and culture are not static. Rather, they are ever evolving and ever adapting.”

Artist: Anina Major
Title of Work: Ostracons of the Atlantic Detail2 2022

An inherent risk of exposure to the COVID-19 exists in any public space where people are present. Those visiting ArtsWestchester voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19, other infectious conditions, and other hazards that may be present in a public space. While masks are not required, we encourage anyone who feels it necessary to take all safety precautions when attending an event here at ArtsWestchester.