Bluegrass Transplants: Refugee Edition
Co-Curated by:
Joanne Hope Skiles Couch
Jeffery S. Couch
Philip Manga
Samantha Jean Moore
Joanne Hope Skiles Couch
Jeffery S. Couch
Philip Manga
Samantha Jean Moore
"A refugee is someone who survived and who can create the future." - Amela Koluder
The refugee experience is filled with heartache, fear and uncertainty. It is also filled with hope, and an unquenchable desire to build anew from the ashes. This second iteration of Bluegrass Transplants explores our refugee communities: foreign, domestic, and indigenous. It also affords the Bluegrass community a way to reflect on their own personal situations that may have led to them fleeing and leaving everything behind, just like our refugee brothers and sisters.
We are fortunate to have among us a wonderful group of young, energetic African refugees who are students of the nonprofit Box2Box, which uses soccer and academics to mentor youth. In the Summer of 2022, Jeff and Joanne Couch led the Box2Box students through their Stoic Positive Mindset Workshop where the students practiced meditative art journaling. The artworks produced were so cathartic and inspiring to us, that we knew we had to use our talents as artists, fashion designers, anthropologists, sociologists, and archaeologists, to interweave their artwork into high fashion clothing.
These beautiful artworks were imprinted on carefully chosen fabrics that were then used to embellish vintage soccer jerseys. This clothing is meant to capture each student's desires, aspirations and honesty in their stories. It was a chance to create a bit of the world they hoped to have had in their homeland while living in a new world they never could have imagined. We are heralding in the term "Lexington Street Wear" to describe these one-of-a-kind fiber-art pieces that merge the styles of soccer, equestrian, prep, graffiti, urban & suburban edge into these edgy upcycled designer fashions.
We are saving these garments from the landfills by taking the "hand-me-downs" from a first world nation and turning them into something priceless by adorning them with our own stories, our own histories, our own aesthetics, and our own art. Art is the universal language that supersedes language barriers, as it emboldens the meekest of us to share our stories. These stories can then be told with the confidence that, visually, we will be understood, we will be heard, and our beautiful diversity will be included in our new home here in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. We all love the intellectual hospitality Lexington has given us with its passionate inclusiveness.
Thank you for cherishing the student’s art, their stories, and our collective fiber-art fashions. Each Jersey is available for purchase at $250. The funds from the sale of the jerseys will help support the Box2Box mission and the Lexington Art League, passionate causes you can be proud to support while looking amazingly cool and uniquely you! You, our patrons, are rad!
The refugee experience is filled with heartache, fear and uncertainty. It is also filled with hope, and an unquenchable desire to build anew from the ashes. This second iteration of Bluegrass Transplants explores our refugee communities: foreign, domestic, and indigenous. It also affords the Bluegrass community a way to reflect on their own personal situations that may have led to them fleeing and leaving everything behind, just like our refugee brothers and sisters.
We are fortunate to have among us a wonderful group of young, energetic African refugees who are students of the nonprofit Box2Box, which uses soccer and academics to mentor youth. In the Summer of 2022, Jeff and Joanne Couch led the Box2Box students through their Stoic Positive Mindset Workshop where the students practiced meditative art journaling. The artworks produced were so cathartic and inspiring to us, that we knew we had to use our talents as artists, fashion designers, anthropologists, sociologists, and archaeologists, to interweave their artwork into high fashion clothing.
These beautiful artworks were imprinted on carefully chosen fabrics that were then used to embellish vintage soccer jerseys. This clothing is meant to capture each student's desires, aspirations and honesty in their stories. It was a chance to create a bit of the world they hoped to have had in their homeland while living in a new world they never could have imagined. We are heralding in the term "Lexington Street Wear" to describe these one-of-a-kind fiber-art pieces that merge the styles of soccer, equestrian, prep, graffiti, urban & suburban edge into these edgy upcycled designer fashions.
We are saving these garments from the landfills by taking the "hand-me-downs" from a first world nation and turning them into something priceless by adorning them with our own stories, our own histories, our own aesthetics, and our own art. Art is the universal language that supersedes language barriers, as it emboldens the meekest of us to share our stories. These stories can then be told with the confidence that, visually, we will be understood, we will be heard, and our beautiful diversity will be included in our new home here in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky. We all love the intellectual hospitality Lexington has given us with its passionate inclusiveness.
Thank you for cherishing the student’s art, their stories, and our collective fiber-art fashions. Each Jersey is available for purchase at $250. The funds from the sale of the jerseys will help support the Box2Box mission and the Lexington Art League, passionate causes you can be proud to support while looking amazingly cool and uniquely you! You, our patrons, are rad!
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Public Gallery Hours
Wednesday 12pm-5pm
Thursday 12pm-5pm Friday 12pm-5pm Saturday 12pm - 5pm Viewings also available by appointment |
The Loudoun House
209 Castlewood Dr. Lexington, Ky. 40505 Email: [email protected]
Phone 859-254-7024 |
All Lexington Art League programs are made possible through the generous support of LexArts.
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The Kentucky Arts Council, a state arts agency, provides operating support to the Lexington Art League with state tax dollars and federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional support provided by Lexington Parks & Recreation.
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