Nora Hiriart Litz

Nora will create El Viaje de los Niños (The Journey of the Children), a project that tells the stories of Mexican immigrant children that have crossed the border to come to Philadelphia. The project will involve the participation of Mexican immigrant children residing in South Philadelphia. Through twelve, 2-hour visual art sessions, the children will create artwork that will identify the emotional distress and effects immigration has on their lives and identities. The children will create large-scale 12” x 24” dioramas that illustrate their journeys to Philadelphia. The dioramas will include maps, poems, objects, and images of their environments to narrate each child’s story. Nora’s main goal is to give the children a voice and safe place through the arts to share their immigration experiences.

Nora created El Viaje de los Niños (The Journey of the Children), a project that tells the stories of Mexican immigrant children who have crossed the border to come to Philadelphia. The project involved the participation of Mexican immigrant children residing in South Philadelphia. Through visual art sessions, the children created artwork that identified the emotional distress and effects of immigration on their lives and identities. The children created large-scale 10” x 9” X 42” dioramas that illustrate their journeys to Philadelphia. The dioramas include images of their communities in Mexico and the perils of their crossing. Their voices were recorded as each one chronicled his/her journey. These narrations can be heard in English and Spanish while one is viewing the diorama, thus making our experience of the work all the more profound. Nora’s main goal was, and continues to be, to help these children find their voice through art so that they can begin to express where it hurts and find a way to heal their wounds.