In “El Arte de la Resistencia,” migrant children share their experiences through art

A life-size painting of a body covers almost half of the wall in a room. The boy in the painting has blue legs and a blue torso. His arms are black and the black paint fully covers his mouth. In the belly of the boy is an excavator. Below the boy is a red heart with the name Rodolfo.

Next to the boy’s painting is an equally large painting of a colorful cactus, the colors blending into each other. A bold reddish brown and a lighter orange covering most of the cactus with a blend of pink and purple coloring the arms of what looks like a saguaro. The name Emili is painted sideways in blue next to the cactus, the same blue paint the child used to draw clouds above. 

The artists are children who have participated in La Ristra’s art therapy program. The nonprofit provides emotional support to migrant families in Tucson and their art is part of a temporary exhibition showcasing kid’s artwork. 

La Ristra’s art exhibition, “El Arte de la Resistencia” opened Wednesday afternoon in a small gallery space near Fourth Avenue and Seventh Street. The exhibition will be open to the public until Sunday, May 17. 

Some of the children’s original artwork is for sale, with funds going directly to the artists. Prints are also being sold to help raise funds for La Ristra. 

Forrest Marvin was at a volunteer training in April when they learned about the artwork depicting the life-size boy. The boy’s father, who is a contractor, was deported, Marvin said. 

“He did this body map and depicted the excavator in his stomach,” Marvin said. “And I was just like, ‘this art is so powerful and we have a space; we should make this happen.’” 

Marvin offered up their partner’s space near Fourth Avenue for the exhibition. They plan to officially start volunteering with the art therapy program next month. Marvin, who is a therapist, said art is a valuable tool to help people express their emotions. 

“I think there’s something that comes through in art, particularly art about the body, art of the body, that bypasses language in a way that gets right into feeling,” they said. “And I think it’s a really important way for these kids who, some of them are stuck at home… for people to get to hear them in a way that is so intimate and emotional.” 

Alongside the children’s paintings are Rosa’s, under her artist name Tita Flores. Rosa — whose full name is being omitted for her safety — is a co-founder of La Ristra and the director of its art therapy program. As a psychologist and artist herself, she understands the power of art as a means to release emotions. 

“Art is a conduit — a conductive medium — to bring out the most private or repressed emotions,” Rosa said in Spanish. “Art itself is very powerful in achieving healing.”

One of Rosa’s paintings is of a girl holding a doll walking through a desert landscape as a monsoon storm pours down on her. The image is a depiction of a story Rosa has carried with her for many years, a story an 84-year-old immigrant woman once told her about being sexually assaulted in a field at 12 years old. The monsoon storm is her depiction of the violence the woman endured. 

As she shared this story with a captivated audience of about a dozen people, she explained that they hear many stories in the work they do with La Ristra and as psychologists. Those stories, and the trust people place in her by telling her their story, is worth gold, she said. The desert landscape has hues of gold, representing how valuable the story is to Rosa. The original piece is not for sale, she told her audience.

Rosa said despite not working with children for a long time, they have seen immediate changes in behavior after introducing them to art therapy. The children can express themselves without rules and once they pick up a paintbrush, they don’t want to put it down, she said. 

“The mind relaxes; a burden is lifted,” Rosa said. “A new way of looking at life awakens. And it is a language that allows you to say a great deal without words.”

They have noticed the children are resolving pain and some have been able to say goodbye to people they love that they won’t ever be able to see again, she said, referring to two brothers, ages four and six, whose father died and who were away from other family members. The boys were sad and mischievous, Rosa said.

“We noticed a total transformation—a very positive development,” she said. 

It’s a trauma all migrants carry in some way, the trauma of leaving loved ones behind and hoping to see them again someday, hopefully alive, Rosa said. 

Dusty Falcon almost immediately started crying when he saw the artwork from the children, especially when he saw the portrait titled “My papá,” drawn by a seven-year-old in crayon. The portrait is colorful, the dad’s face orange and purple with a little green on the forehead, his eyes and smile a bright blue and an array of colors outlining the face. 

Seeing the portrait really resonated with Falcon, who said his father died due to environmental racism. 

“I think what really struck me was how beautiful collective grief is,” Falcon said. “Not to roomanticize it, but this is something that we are all holding and carrying.” 

Falcon left the art exhibition feeling inspired. The service La Ristra is providing to these children is “spiritually healing,” they said. 

“I’ve been really sitting with how inspired I am with this reclaiming of what art is and who artists are and how seven year olds who are just coloring during a therapy activity is really channelng some spiritual ancestral grief that is affecting people of all ages, and backgrounds and demographics,” Falcon said. “We are all artists, we are all healers.”

Marvin, who is friends with Falcon and invited them to see the art show, agreed, saying the exhibition emphasizes the value of young people’s art. 

“It’s important and it’s meaningful and it’s beautiful and it deserves to be framed and looked at and taken seriously,” Marvin said. “So I think that’s a really special thing that’s happening here.”

“El Arte de la Resistencia” art show

When: Friday (5/15) 3-6 p.m. | Saturday and Sunday (5/16 and 5/17) 2-6 p.m.

Where: 343 N. Hoff Ave. (Hoff Ave. looks like an alleyway just east of Fourth Avenue)

Stephanie Casanova is an independent, bilingual journalist from Tucson, Arizona, covering community stories for over 10 years. She is passionate about narrative, in-depth storytelling that is inclusive and reflects the diversity of the communities she covers.