The exhibition SOMOS | WE ARE features a collection of diverse, colorful, inventive and exploratory artwork and crafts created by the youth who attend the Estudio de Arte para Niños del Centro de Trabajadores del Campo | Children’s Art Studio at the C.C.S. Farmworkers Center. In the estudio these student artists, ranging in age from 2 to 17, have the opportunity to explore the use of art materials, mediums and art principles at weekly workshops. The estudio is their place: in this ongoing journey the young artists are working together with teachers, staff, volunteers and family members to articulate through art, conversation and community the stories of their lives. This work, a culmination of a year of inventive, lively, joy-filled observation is an invitation from them to you - to “come and see who we are.”

La exposición SOMOS | WE ARE presenta una colección de obras de arte y artesanías diversas, coloridas, inventivas y exploratorias creadas por los jóvenes que asisten al Estudio de Arte para Niños del Centro de Trabajadores del Campo. En el Estudio, los estudiantes artistas, de 2 y los 17 años, tienen la oportunidad de explorar el uso de materiales, medios y principios artísticos en talleres semanales. El Estudio es su lugar: en este viaje continuo, los jóvenes artistas trabajan con maestros, personal, voluntarios y familiares para articular historias de sus vidas a través del arte, la conversación y la comunidad. Esta obra, culminación de un año de observación inventiva, viva y llena de alegría, es una invitación de ellos a ustedes: “vengan a ver quiénes somos.”

Curators/Curadores:

Catholic Community Services Farmworker Center | El Centro de Trabajadores del Campo

“Well, How Did We Get Here?”- A personal journey by Anita Ordóñez, founding member

In 2016 Patty Detzer, a local mosaic artist, invited me to join her, Heidi Epstein, Chris Wardenburg-Skinner and the Catholic Community Services Farmworker Center staff in what came to be a nine-month artistic adventure of creating a majestic 5 x 7’ mosaic with Farmworker youth. During this project, I made friends with the migrant youth and their families as well as other artists. For many of us it was the first time we had worked from start to finish on such a grand scale. Upon completion we all began envisioning a future beyond this mosaic.

After Patty passed away in 2018, Heidi Epstein, Chris Wardenburg-Skinner and I took the lead and continued working with youth ages 1-21 on mosaic and watercolor projects. We asked mothers and fathers dropping off their children to join in, saying “Everyone who enters this doorway is an artist.” Thus, the Farmworker Family Art Studio was born. The studio format allowed students to be introduced to and work at their own pace on fresh art materials and concepts. Projects such as luminaries for the annual Illuminight Walk, seed mosaics, embroidered handprints, party hats, ornaments, weavings, linoleum block prints, clay pins and many watercolor and acrylic paintings were some of their accomplishments. Our Friday afternoons became our JOY CLUB!

During this time, I watched the development of skills, confidence and pride in accomplishment among the young people, and remembered how I was impacted by my own early art experiences in the Albright Knox Art Gallery. I began taking Farmworker children to visit MoNA for “Adult and Me” art classes. We worked side-by-side learning about the color wheel and exploring watercolor techniques using different types of media including paints, pencils, and crayons. One child was prolific in the two-hour class and created 15 watercolors channeling his indigenous heritage by painting various Aztec bird designs. I remember his wonder and amazement that such a place like MoNA existed where art was on the walls. I told him, “One day you will see your art here too!”

The FFAS closed down in 2020 during the pandemic. We three main volunteers decided to retire from weekly teaching as it was difficult to maintain the energy needed to organize, plan and teach these sessions. However, we missed our Joy Club and in 2021, with the pandemic ongoing, we began reimagining how the FFAS concept could continue. Realizing we needed both financial and human support, we sought help from MoNA, who collaborated with us to create art backpacks filled with wonderful supplies: watercolors, colored pencils, markers, glue, glitter, paper, scissors and ideas for how to use them. These were picked up every other month by the Farmworker families in a drive-by method because we could not meet in person.

Innovation and collaboration continued. In July 2022, 30 Farmworker youth viewed the exhibition of the famous Mexican-American artist, Alfredo Arreguín, at the MoNA. The young people admired the entire exhibition and drew inspiration from the intricate patterns and designs Arreguín is known for. In the fall of 2022 we were thrilled to again collaborate with MoNA to offer in-person FFAS once a month which culminated at the end of June 2023 with an exhibit at the CCS Farmworkers Center.

And now here we are! Synergy sparked the collaboration between MoNA and the Farmworker Family Art Studio now rechristened the Estudio de Arte para Niños to reflect the true ownership of the estudio. Welcome to the SOMOS | WE ARE exhibition, where the dream of seeing their artwork exhibited in our own local art museum is being realized. 

Please explore these resources that support migrant farmworkers

• Centro Binacional para el Desarrollo Indígena Oaxaqueño

• Frente Indígena de Organizaciones Binacionales

• Mixteco Indígena Community Organizing Project

• Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo

• United Farm Workers

• Familias Unidas por la Justicia

• Pineros y Campesinos Unidos del Noroeste

• Coalition of Immokalee Workers

The slideshow below features photographs taken during the art sessions at the studio. All photo credits: Children's Art Studio at the Farmworkers Center.