Maine's Capital Area

Please join us as we open our latest exhibit today called Yearning to Breathe Free: The Immigrant Experience in Maine. It’s kind of a celebration of just a few of the organizations and individuals in Maine who are making a difference in welcoming new Maine residents to a state that was mostly built through the hard work of immigrants.  The exhibit is in the gallery of the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine’s Michael Klahr Center on the campus of the University of Maine at Augusta.

There are exhibit pieces about The Telling Room, Mano en Mano, Centro Latino de Maine, Immigrant Kitchens, New Mainers Speak, the Mainer art project, and banners by ARRT (Artist Rapid Response Team) and others. At the center of the exhibit is the storefront window from Mainly Groceries in Augusta, an Iraqi-owned store. The window was hit with something in the middle of the night nearly two years ago by someone passing by. As part of this exhibit, we arranged to get the window replaced with the help of Oakes & Parkhurst Glass and the cracked window encourages all of us to think and reflect on how emotions about new Maine residents sometimes manifest themselves. It’s a powerful reflection on much of the current rhetoric about immigration.

The exhibit opens at 5 p.m. and a brief program begins at 5:30. There will be snacks, including food
catered by Sosa Sosa of Mainly Groceries, drinks and plenty of thought-provoking conversation. It’s all free, suitable for all ages, and all are welcome. The exhibit will be open through April 1st.