California Story Fund
Community Stories:
ArtsChange Central American Photo Narratives and Traveling Exhibition
Arts Change
Richmond
Project Director: Ann Schnake
A health center documented one of the immigrant communities it serves
This project used photographs, text and artifacts to document the lives of five Latin American immigrants for a “Migration Stories” exhibit at the Richmond Health Center and other venues. It was one of a series of projects sponsored by the Health Center highlighting Richmond’s immigrant communities.
Participants were drawn from patients and staff of the Health Center and several other organizations. Ruth Morgan, a noted documentary photographer, used the stories as the basis for a series of photographic essays on the subject’s lives.
As part of the project, a selection of 45 photographic essays from the “Migration Stories” series, developed by Arts Change over the past seven years, were mounted and exhibited at the Richmond Art Center and other health centers in Richmond.
“Our goal was to introduce the concept of community ownership in local health centers and ultimately expose and eliminate racism and stereotypes that can compromise health services to immigrants and communities of color,” said Project Director Ann Schnake.