{"id":25994,"date":"2021-08-29T17:36:43","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T00:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=30000021831"},"modified":"2021-08-29T19:25:19","modified_gmt":"2021-08-30T02:25:19","slug":"migrant-children-artwork-molaa-long-beach-convention-center","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/migrant-children-artwork-molaa-long-beach-convention-center","title":{"rendered":"IN PICTURES: One-day exhibit of migrant children’s artwork showcased at MOLAA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lea este informe en espa\u00f1ol<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

In a special one-day showing, Long Beach\u2019s Museum of Latin American Art, in partnership with the city, showcased on Sunday artwork from the migrant youth who had been housed at a temporary shelter set up in the Long Beach Convention Center this year.<\/p>\n

The exhibition was a result of art workshops offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as migrant youth were being held at the Long Beach Convention Center from April 22 to July 23. Youth were sent to Long Beach amid an overflow of migrants in facilities in other states near the U.S.-Mexico border as migration increased this past year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The convention center mostly housed girls ages 5 and older while they waited to be connected with family members or sponsors, according to officials.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, MOLAA showcased posters from an election held after forming an official council for the shelter, which was led by a 6-year-old council president, drawings related to the children\u2019s time in Long Beach, a shelter logo that the children created and voted on and was included in all staff badges, a single art piece created by the shelter staff, letters sent to the children from the community and makeshift, body-sized dresses.<\/p>\n

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The artwork on these two walls were created by children from the Long Beach community to welcome the migrant children and are displayed at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Youth care worker Jasmine Pe\u00f1a, 25, worked at the convention center for three months and said she helped the girls design dresses made out of recycled materials and other material such as plastic bags, bottles, tissue paper and aluminum foil. One dress even had a hula-hoop at the base of the gown to keep the makeshift dress circular, she said, crediting the girls\u2019 ingenuity.<\/p>\n

More than 20 girls individually designed the dresses for a two-hour fashion show, Pe\u00f1a said. Amazed by their creativity, she recalled seeing the girls dressed in their creations, wearing makeup as they walked down a makeshift runway inside the convention center. Unfortunately, Pe\u00f1a said, no one was allowed to film the fashion show.<\/p>\n

On Sunday afternoon, Pe\u00f1a entered the doors of an exhibition room at MOLAA with her loved ones to see the dresses on display one last time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was their idea,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just helped them come to life.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A white and blue dress designed by a migrant girl is on display at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Daniel Trujillo, 47, traveled from Koreatown in Los Angeles with his wife just to see the artwork. It was a mix of emotions for him.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I was] coming to see this expecting to be very hurt, really sad,\u201d Trujillo said. \u201cBut seeing the costumes, they\u2019re so joyful. I can just see they\u2019re having so much fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

The children, who\u2019ve lived through a likely traumatic family separation, were able to turn an \u201cugly\u201d situation into \u201ca place of happiness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t a place of happiness for every child who was kept at the shelter. Though the city in a release said\u00a0 that most kids stayed at the center an average of no longer than 19 days, immigrants rights activists raised many concerns about how long kids have stayed at these temporary shelters and how they are being treated. Long Beach was deemed one of the better-run centers, but it was far from a vacation for the children. In \u00a0a court declaration<\/a>\u00a0one girl, a 17-year-old, said it was difficult getting clean clothes, staying warm and sleeping because the lights were always on. She had spent about 30 days there.<\/p>\n

“I am really sad being here,” the unnamed girl said.<\/p>\n

Solimar Salas, MOLAA\u2019s vice president of the museum’s content and programming, said the museum was only able to showcase the artwork for one day because they have a full calendar in September and October and could only accommodate this Sunday. The museum chose MOLAA\u2019s usual free-day-Sunday so that anyone could access it at no cost.<\/p>\n

Salas said that the dresses resembled those designed for quincea\u00f1eras and weddings, and the display, for her, was a chance to \u201chumanize the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThese children, they have dreams, they have hopes, they have a future,\u201d Salas said.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Dresses created by migrant youth held at the Long Beach Convention Center were displayed at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Detail of a dress designed by a migrant girl is on display at the Museum of Latin American Art\u00a0in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A red dress made of paper, foil and other material, topped with a mask, is displayed at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Visitors view artwork from migrant children at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A black and pink dress designed by a migrant girl is on display at the Museum of Latin American Art\u00a0in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Election posters made by the migrant children are displayed at the Museum of Latin American Art\u00a0in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A dress with the letter “B” designed by a migrant girl is on display at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A letter “B” was placed on a dress designed by a migrant girl is on display at the Museum of Latin American Art in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
A dress designed by a migrant girl is on display at the Museum of Latin American Art\u00a0in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Dresses made out of paper and plastic bags on display at the Museum of Latin American Art\u00a0in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Dresses made out of paper and plastic bags on display at the Museum of Latin American Art\u00a0in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
A dress designed by a migrant girl is on display at the Museum of Latin American Art\u00a0in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
A white dress designed by a migrant girl is on display at the Museum of Latin American Art\u00a0in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"
Detail of a white dress designed by a migrant girl is on display at the Museum of Latin American Art\u00a0in Long Beach on Sunday, Aug. 29, 2021. Photo by Crystal Niebla.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The children, who\u2019ve lived through a likely traumatic family separation, were able to turn an \u201cugly\u201d situation into \u201ca place of happiness,\u201d said one visitor at the exhibit.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":125,"featured_media":71691,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2002,6],"tags":[31909,159],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[25587],"class_list":["post-25994","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-hi-lo","tag-migrant-center","tag-molaa","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25994","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/125"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25994"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25994\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25994"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25994"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25994"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=25994"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=25994"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}