Artists Honor Immigrants in Monuments Across New Jersey
New public commissions by artists Michelle Angela Ortiz, Chat Travieso, and Immanuel Oni are part of the New Jersey Monuments to Migration and Labor initiative.
Amid the current swell of vilification, exploitation, and brutalization directed at immigrants of all demographics residing in the United States, a public art initiative in New Jersey carves out space to celebrate the cultural diversity and contributions of its own immigrant community.
Monumental outdoor commissions by artists Michelle Angela Ortiz, Chat Travieso, and Immanuel Oni were inaugurated across the state this summer through the New Jersey Monuments to Migration and Labor (NJMML) project. The publicly integrated works are a result of consultations with over 1,000 community stakeholders, and their strategic locations between North, Central, and South Jersey channel the culturally specific experiences of the prominent demographics represented in each region.
Supplementing the NJMML installations is an upcoming symposium at Rutgers University's Zimmerli Art Museum on Friday, October 16.
“I think the three monuments are distinguished by an awareness that celebration and reflection, which the pieces encourage, are not just secondary pursuits that can be sacrificed during times of crisis,” said NJMML Project Director Andrew Urban in a press statement regarding the initiative.
Urban also lauded the stakeholders for their willingness to “share their time, perspectives, and incredibly personal stories related to being migrants and laborers.”
