Every year on June 20th the world comes together to celebrate World Refugee Day. This celebration is to honor the strength of people who have been forced to flee their homes and who have had to rebuild them in new place. For the second year in a row, the IRC in Wichita and Episcopal Migration Ministries (EMM) and Wichita State University, SHIFTSPACE gallery have partnered together to celebrate World Refugee Day in Wichita.

 

As part of this celebration this year clients from the IRC and EMM were invited to “Maker Events” where they were encouraged to create art. All clients were invited to participate and create something that made them think of their homes; either in Wichita or somewhere else.  

The artworks ranged from paintings and drawings, needlepoint, music and sculpture made by former refugees of all ages. The art was then put into the #WelcomeHome art exhibit in SHIFTSPACE Gallery. The Maker Events were coordinated by Wichita State University SHIFTSPACE, Gallery Director, Lisa Rundstrom who supplied all of the art making materials and worked with the clients making art. “Our hope is to welcome and support their transition to Wichita and use visual language as a platform for convergence of common experiences and to create new relationships that will send a message of hope to each person who is trying to start again.”

The art was displayed for an opening night celebration that supporters from IRC and EMM attended. On World Refugee Day, a free festival and carnival was hosted for clients where more than 300 former refugees attended and celebrated alongside their fellow Wichitans. The art was kept up for Final Friday festivities on June 30th where more than 500 people visited the gallery.

Photographer, Kalene Nisly photographed all concepts of the art making and exhibit from the beginning of the project through all three of the public showings. “At the show I was asked again and again if the work was done by people here, in Wichita. I think that it really struck people in a new way to see the art and know that their neighbors made it. I was impacted by seeing the concept of home through our client’s eyes. Even in the children's work, the images felt so rich with longing and also belonging. They were celebrating and remembering and sharing little pieces of themselves with us and it was honor to witness and document this.” Nisly, said. “I hope that the exhibit helps people understand that we do not need to go to Syria, Congo or South Sudan to be supportive, that we can do it right here.” Said, Rundstrom.

For more information about the #WelcomeHome art exhibit or if your space is interested in hosting the exhibit, please contact the IRC at 316-361-2795.