When Home Won’t Let You Stay
Refugee Portrait Exhibition

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When Home Won’t Let You Stay is a multimedia art experience focused on reclaiming our empathetic imagination toward displaced people group. The exhibition is the product of documentary artist James A. Bowey, who traveled the country collecting the stories and photos of refugees living in America. The penetrating portraits, alongside first-person accounts presented as found poems, share the devastating stories of violence and loss that permeate the refugee experience, challenging us to consider our role in building supportive and welcoming communities for refugees around the world.

The exhibition will open in the LSC Sanctuary featuring the portraits, live music, and narrators from LaSalle voicing the refugee’s words. This event much more than just an opening for the portrait gallery -- it's a part of the artwork itself! Through this multimedia experience, Bowey will lead a communal conversation about how current refugee policies and attitudes reflect the state of empathetic imagination in our civic life. This compelling talk explores how we can bear witness in a contentious world, and awaken our imagination to the possibilities of hope, justice, and human connection. After the community event, the portrait gallery will remain open through the rest of this year, closing on December 29.

This event and portrait gallery are free and open to the public!