No Human Being is Illegal: Posters on the Myths & Realities of the Immigrant Experience

From the collection of The Center for the Study of Political Graphics

September 6 – November 19, 2016

Reception on September 14 from 12:30-2pm

Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art, Chaffey College 5885 Haven Avenue, Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91737

Chaffey College and the Wignall Museum of Contemporary Art are pleased to present No Human Being is Illegal: Posters on the Myths & Realities of the Immigrant Experience from September 6 – November 19, 2016. There will be a reception on September 14, from 1230-2pm, with light refreshments and music from DJ Patrick Miller on the museum patio.

Give me your tired, your poor; Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free … There is an enormous disparity between Emma Lazarus' eloquent promise on the Statue of Liberty and ongoing attacks against immigrants. From the Irish and Chinese who came in the nineteenth century to the Mexicans and Middle Easterners arriving now, discrimination based on race, class, language, and culture has unfortunately been consistent. Whether the reason for migration is to escape war, seek asylum from persecution, or pursue better economic opportunities, leaving one’s family, friends, and home is never easy. These posters document diverse efforts to make immigrants’ reality closer to their hopes and dreams.

Five decades of powerful graphics use public spaces to organize and educate. They remind us to reflect upon our immigrant heritage, and challenge us to bring the immigrant experience closer to the promise on the Statue of Liberty This exhibition is about discrimination and prejudice, but it is also about hope, commitment, and determination. The posters record struggles but they also record victories, and the ability of people to successfully organize for change.

The Center for the Study of Political Graphics (CSPG) is an educational and research archive that collects, preserves and exhibits graphics of social change. With more than 85,000 political posters, CSPG includes the largest collection of post-World War II human rights and protest posters in the U.S. Through traveling exhibitions, workshops and publications, CSPG is reclaiming the power of art to educate and inspire people to action.

No Human Being is Illegal: Posters on the Myths & Realities of the Immigrant Experience is made possible in part by grants from the Department of Cultural Affairs, City of Los Angeles; the California Arts Council and individual donors.

Who’s the Alien, Pilgrim?

Yolanda M. Lopez

Offset, 1981

San Francisco, CA

31865