Here Now: Art and Migration brings together a group of international and national artists whose work explores concepts of borders, movement, and migration across local urban centers and global geographies. Through their choice of materials and visual languages, these artists challenge conventional notions of borders as fixed. They reimagine borders as sites of historical investigations, social reckoning, and conduits of an emerging aesthetic. Here Now: Art and Migration features artists who, through their creative practice, define their place in the here and now. Featured Artists: Sajjad Abbas (Baghdad, Iraq), Teresa Baker (Los Angeles, CA), Lydia Nakashima Degarrod (Oakland, CA), Verónica Gaona (Houston, TX), Paula Higa (Burlington, VT), Matthew Schrader (Middlebury, VT), and Edra Soto (Chicago, IL).

Margaret Jacobs creates steel sculptures and finely crafted jewelry, exploring the tensions and harmonies between the man-made and natural worlds. An enrolled member of the Akwesasne Mohawk tribe in upstate New York, Jacobs investigates cultural histories and identity. In Kinship, Jacobs examines the relationships connecting unexpected or contradictory elements, believing that materials have their own distinct narratives. In her Old Growth Series, Jacobs melds forms of flora and medicinal plants with tools associated with early twentieth-century Mohawk ironworkers. Alongside the stark lines and unadorned metal of these steel sculptures, the artist’s colorful jewelry features botanicals – such as garlic, mint, and strawberry – arranged in groupings as “partner pieces” charged with a quiet strength and beauty.

The 2024 exhibition year is presented by Mascoma Bank. Sponsored in part by the Maslow Family Foundation. Hospitality sponsors, Lake Champlain Chocolates, Farrell Distributing, and William Hill Estate Winery.