“Flores de Libertad” by artist Michelle Angela Ortiz
An upcoming exhibit in Harrisburg will serve as a celebration, a historical archive and a lesson in the power of community action.
“Queremos Justicia: How We Shut Down Berks” will come to the Susquehanna Art Museum in conjunction with Hispanic Heritage Month, bringing art and stories from the years-long movement to close an immigrant detention center in Berks County.
The exhibit, which runs from Aug. 31 to Nov. 3, incorporates paintings, posters, T-shirts, photography and a documentary created and used for advocacy during the Shut Down Berks Coalition’s eight-year fight to close the prison, which detained undocumented immigrant families.
The detention center was one of only three prisons for immigrant families in the United States and was known to have unsafe and abusive conditions, according to Jasmine Rivera, a co-founder of the coalition. Over the years, hundreds of volunteers and organizations partnered with the coalition. On Jan. 31, 2023, the detention center was shut down.
Art became a significant piece of the puzzle for organizers, as artists reached out to support the cause, many volunteering to create work to educate and inform the public on the issue, advocate to lawmakers and amplify the voices of the immigrants.
“I and many folks in the coalition would say, ‘I don’t want to be part of a movement without art,” Rivera said. “Art brings people together. It was calls to action and community building.”
One of those artists involved in the movement was Philadelphia-based Michelle Angela Ortiz, who created murals, billboards and bus stop ads as part of her “Familias Separadas” campaign. She spent months visiting women in the detention facility, listening to their stories and working with them to create art installations and her documentary “Las Madres de Berks.” Ortiz is also responsible for a permanent mural in Allison Hill featuring an image of an immigrant woman and her son.
“I was trying to find ways to focus on their strengths,” she said. “I was able to work with them—not ignoring the struggles they’ve been through—but really focusing on their strengths.”
At the SAM exhibit, which is the fourth stop for the traveling show, viewers will get to see Ortiz’s “Flores de Libertad” display, which incorporates over a thousand paper flowers with messages of freedom written on them by community members and the women who were detained at Berks. This is the first showing of the exhibit that will include this piece of art. Her documentary will also be shown as part of the show.
For Ortiz and Rivera, the exhibit functions as an archive of history and tells the story of the fight for freedom, but also serves as a celebration of successful activism.
“The significance of having this prison shut down is massive,” Ortiz said. “This moment is a shining example of community coming together and winning a fight.”
Rivera also hopes that the Shut Down Berks Coalition’s story and its use of art for its mission inspires viewers to realize that their skills and passions can make an impact.
“I hope folks can see that when fighting for change we need everybody,” Rivera said. “Everyone is capable and talented. We need the artists just like we need the organizers.”
For more information about “Queremos Justicia: How We Shut Down Berks,” visit the Susquehanna Art Museum’s website. To view Michelle Angela Ortiz’s work, visit her website.
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