Painting Immigrant Portraits
Join Korea Art Forum for an artist panel with students of Baruch College, moderated by Dr. Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana, as part of the 2025 Shared Dialogue, Shared Space (SDSS) Indoor Exhibition in Chinatown, NY.
Monday, February 2, 2026
2:30 PM — 3:45 PM
Storefront for Ideas
127 Walker Street, New York, NY 10013
Korea Art Forum (KAF) invites you to an artist panel of students at Baruch College, moderated by Dr. Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana, as part of the 2025 Shared Dialogue, Shared Space (SDSS) Indoor Exhibition at the Storefront for Ideas, powered by Immigrant Social Services (ISS) in Chinatown, NY.
The artist, Dr. Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana, and her students who collaborated on mounting the mural will reflect on their experiences of exploring U.S. immigration issues through the hands-on, embodied process of painting and installing the mural, and through sustained presence in the community—meeting, listening to, and engaging local residents.
“My dissertation, The Diaspora of U.S. Childhood Arrival Immigrants, looks at the experiences of people who came to the United States as children without legal status. As the number of these migrants has grown, my research examines the limited legal options available to them and the serious consequences they face, especially deportation. It also explores the emotional, social, and ethical issues surrounding how the U.S. legal system treats this group.”
— Dr. Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana
Dr. Lizbeth De La Cruz Santana is one of the participating artists in the 2025 Shared Dialogue, Shared Space, contributing her mural project US Childhood Arrivals.
De La Cruz Santana is a cultural worker, muralist, and interdisciplinary Latinx public scholar specializing in contemporary migration processes. She is the creator of Painting the Humanizing Deportation Archive, through which she has led the creation of murals depicting immigrant stories at the U.S.–Mexico border, in New York City, and across California.
Her research centers on digital storytelling, testimonial literature, diaspora studies, and 20th- and 21st-century Mexican, Mexican-American, and Chicano/a literature and culture. Grounded in Indigenous and feminist pedagogies, her academic approach emphasizes accessible and reciprocal knowledge-making that responds to community needs.
Her current project examines childhood arrival migrants to the United States. As a social justice storyteller, De La Cruz Santana works across multiple mediums, including digital storytelling and muralism, centering narratives that challenge dominant frameworks around migration and belonging.
Guest curators Jennifer McGregor, curator and arts planner, former Director of Arts at Wave Hill, and Martin Lucas, arts educator and Emeritus Professor in the Integrated Media Arts MFA Program at Hunter College, co-curate the 2025 iteration. They bring fresh perspectives to this dynamic and continuously evolving project.
Immigrant Social Services (ISS) strives to co-create an environment where underserved immigrants and children of immigrants in Chinatown/Lower East Side can thrive and shape their futures. Through our programs and services, we nurture and empower our community’s children, youth, young adults, families, and older adults to restore their agency, while working to transform systems and cultivate opportunities that enable them to flourish.
Storefront for Ideas is a space for inquiry, curiosity, and creativity. It is a space to explore community issues that matter and to co-reimagine the possibilities for Chinatown, now and into the future.
Accommodations
We welcome requests for individual accommodations. ASL and other disability services are available with at least two weeks' notice. For assistance, please contact us at info@kafny.org or (347) 840-1142.
About Shared Dialogue, Shared Space (SDSS)
This flagship initiative of the Korea Art Forum proudly commissions artists to create socially engaged, participatory art that culminates in public art installations in outdoor community hubs. The project focuses on serving (im)migrants, people with disabilities, and individuals facing economic hardship. Since its launch in 2020, SDSS has integrated art into daily city life, fostering dialogue between artists and the public while addressing various issues, such as anti-Asian sentiment, inequality, and climate justice. SDSS promotes collaboration, resilience, and social change, offering free, accessible, and immersive art events with live interpretation services. SDSS connects local communities to art, which enhances their overall quality of life and well-being.
About Korea Art Forum (KAF)
Founded in New York City in 2013, KAF is led by artists, scholars, and peacemakers committed to bridging the world through art. KAF supports artists' social engagement, enhancing people’s quality of life and well-being. We produce commissions, exhibitions, forums, publications, and art workshops to bring people together across the art world and beyond to share dialogues, build an interconnected world, and support inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility (IDEA).
THANK YOU!
2025 Shared Dialogue, Shared Space (SDSS) is supported, in part, with awards from the National Endowment for the Arts; public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council; and is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Additional funding is provided by the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF). Media sponsorship is provided by the Korean Community Media Broadcasting (KCMB). We especially thank our community partners, South Bronx Unite, the Minkwon Center, the NYC Department of Parks and Recreation, the NYC Department of Transportation, and NYC Council Members Vickie Paladino, Sandra Ung, and Julie Won for supporting KAF’s projects.
