History Museum of Sonoma County debuts exhibit with immigrant stories

A new museum exhibit will share the stories of dozens of Sonoma County’s foreign-born residents, offering an insight into the obstacles they faced before settling in Wine Country.

The exhibit, “Art and Storytelling: The Bodymap Series,” that opens this week at the History Museum of Sonoma County will feature video interviews with the immigrants, as well as their “body maps,” or outlines of their bodies they collaged and painted to tell their stories.

Participants in the project come from all over the world, including Africa, Asia and Latin America, and faced difficult and dangerous situations trying to get to the United States, according to Cynthia Leung, community outreach and volunteer coordinator for the history museum.

One woman fled Vietnam and almost had her hand cut off when pirates boarded the boat she and nearly 200 other refugees were on and demanded she give up the jade bracelet her mother gave her as a wedding gift. Another woman escaped a marriage back in her native Mexico only to face more hardships in the United States, while another woman from war-torn Eritrea found success after learning English and going to college.

Some of the participants are expected to be at the opening party, from 8 to 11 p.m. Friday.

Admission is free for both the party and exhibit, which runs until June 8.

The exhibit initially was expected to open in February but was delayed with the recent opening of the new, long-awaited Art Museum of Sonoma County?next door, Leung said. The project, funded by the James Irvine Foundation, is designed to encourage more minorities to visit the museums.

Organizers worked on the project with Santa Rosa artist Mario Uribe, who helped immigrants create their body maps.

Leslie Mancillas, a memoir writer and Santa Rosa Junior College ESL teacher, has students who participated last fall in the project, creating body maps to display at the museum. They also wrote essays about themselves, which Mancillas bound into a book. Copies of the book will be on display at the exhibit and the college’s library.

“I hope people in the community walk away with a deeper understanding of the challenges and dreams of immigrants in Sonoma County,” Mancillas said about the exhibit, adding that her students benefited from sharing their stories.

“It’s powerful,” she said about the project. “It creates a sense of self-worth.”

The museum plans to hold other events as part of the project. Uribe will talk about the body maps, as well as art and storytelling, on May 7. The talk starts at 7 p.m., and a reception will be held at 6 p.m.

On May 21, Bay Area immigration attorney Christopher Kerosky and former Sonoma County District Attorney Mike Mullins will talk about issues in immigration law. The talk will start at 7 p.m. and be moderated by Daniel Malpica, Chicano and Latino studies professor at Sonoma State University. A reception will start at 6 p.m.

You can reach Staff Writer Eloísa Ruano González at 521-5458 or eloisa.gonzalez?@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @eloisanews.