A new art exhibit in Bonita wants to highlight the humanitarian aspect of what’s playing out at the border. NBC 7’s Adonis Albright explains.
"It's not that long ago that families used to be able to come together here," said Natalia Ventura, the curator of the Art of Migration and Resistance exhibit at the Bonita Museum and Cultural Center. Ventura pointed to photographs showing families reuniting with their loved ones at the border fence at Friendship Park in San Ysidro.
Friendship Park has been closed since 2020. It was first closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, and then later a border construction project aimed to replace aging sections of the border wall in 2023.
Border officials at the time said that the park would reopen on the U.S. side after construction had finished. However, under the Trump administration, Ventura is concerned that families might never have access to the park again.
"But we have hope that we will be able to through our efforts to continue to advocate for that space," said Ventura.
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The exhibit, organized by the Friends of Friendship Park, features art installations and photographs. The majority of the photos depict families reuniting at the border fence at the U.S.-Mexico border.
One art installation was created by Pedro Rios, the director of the American Friends Service Committee. He repurposed a ladder found at the border and strung several framed photographs along it, each one depicting a moment in time at Friendship Park.
"I find that there's a lot of grief and pain in doing this work or being connected to those experiences, and we don't often grieve that pain together and I think that's a really important thing to do," said Ventura.
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The closing reception for the exhibit is on Friday, March 28. The curator hopes to bring this exhibit to other parts of the county.
