Roots of Passage:
Artists Examine Immigration

Presented by Atlantic Works Gallery
with work by members and selected guests

July 12 – August 17, 2024
Opening Reception: Thursday, July 18, 2-6 pm
Special Comunity Event: Saturday, August 3, 2-6 pm
Closing Reception: Thursday, August 15, 6-9 pm

Atlantic Works Gallery announced that its summer exhibition is a group showing of artwork by gallery members and selected guest artists who will investigate immigration from their own personal experiences. There will be a special Community Day on August 5 when the Boston community is invited to celebrate and honor those ancestors who came before them, those who now here as immigrants, and to act as a beacon for those still to come.

The exhibition will open at the East Boston gallery on Friday, July 12, with an opening reception on Thursday, July 18—a traditional “Third Thursday” for the gallery—from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. Community Day will be on Saturday, August 3 from 2:00 – 6:00 p.m. at the Gallery, followed by a screening of the film, Open Your Heart: Immigrant Stories and Music from Boston and Beyond, about an inter-generational group of immigrants who came to the U.S. and ultimately landed in East Boston. Actors and the producer from the film will lead the discussion, What it means to be an immigrant, and what it’s like to live in your community.

Along with member artist, painter Chris Lan Hui Chou and painter, textile designer, and sculptor, Colette Brésilla, both of East Boston, will be exhibiting their artwork. 

“East Boston has always been a gateway for immigrants starting in the 1800s, and today it has the highest percentage of foreign-born citizens of any Boston neighborhood,” noted one of the gallery’s founding members, Eric Hess. “With East Boston’s rich tradition of welcoming immigrants, and now with immigration such a burning issue in the news today, the gallery felt compelled to not only examine, but to celebrate the issue.”