Visual artist Mark Menjívar will present his current public, participatory artwork focused on the migration of peoples and birds across borders. Menjívar’s multidisciplinary work, La Misma Canción (The Same Song), emphasizes how the world of birds can help us engage the complexities of place, borders, and movement. His talk will examine migratory birds' resilience and determination in their perilous journey, and the fortitude of peoples who have moved across borders to create better lives for themselves and their families. 

On April 11, La Misma Canción will launch during a Bird Welcoming Festival at Prescott School District, a rural PreK-12 public school 30 minutes north of Walla Walla. This project was commissioned through Carnegie Picture Lab as part of local artists Amanda Evans and Tia Kramer’s multi-year engagement with Prescott School District titled When The River Becomes A Cloud / Cuando el río se transforma en nube. This project brings together local community partners including Whitman College, Walla Walla Immigrant Rights Coalition, Carnegie Picture Lab, Prescott School District, and Audubon Society to celebrate and welcome birds that migrate between Central America and Eastern Washington. The project is supported by grants from Whitman College CELRI, Cornell's Lab of Ornithology, and Community Engagement Org. 

Accessibility / Interpretation / Childcare

Spanish Interpretation provided. ASL Interpretation is available with advanced request to tlpwallawalla@gmail.com

Child care is also available with advance registration. RSVP with children’s ages and language to tlpwallawalla@gmail.com 

Artist bio: 

Mark Menjívar is a San Antonio-based artist and Associate Professor in the School of Art and Design at Texas State University. His art practice primarily consists of creating participatory projects while being rooted in photography, oral history, archives, and social action. He attended McLennan Community College, holds a BA in Social Work from Baylor University and an MFA in Social Practice from Portland State University. Menjívar is the artist-in-residence with the Texas After Violence Project, a public memory archive that fosters deeper understandings of the impacts of state violence. He is also a member of Borderland Collective, which utilizes collaborations between artists, educators, youth, and community members to engage complex issues and build space for diverse perspectives, meaningful dialogue, and modes of creation around border issues.

https://www.markmenjivar.com/