artists elevating immigrant narratives
+ The YOUNG CENTER
JULY 23, 2020
On July 23, Artists Elevating Immigrant Narratives returning artists, Emily Wexler and Shannon Yu, participated in a special event by The Young Center. Taking the stories of immigrant children, Emily and Shannon are spending the month of July creating a new, collaborative work to elevate these children’s stories to premiere at the event.
ARTISTS ELEVATING IMMIGRANT NARRATIVES
Artists Elevating Immigrant Narratives is a series of projects and events that elevate the narrative of immigration in America and engage art and activism in an environment that nurtures collaboration and results in meaningful action.
This project was created to have few elements that are set in stone to allow it to develop over time, together with the participating artists. The intent is to offer a platform for artists to gather, collaborate, and share work as organically as possible.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROJECT
the young center
The Young Center is a human rights organization that protects and advances the rights and best interests of immigrant children and advocates for an immigration system that treats children as children first. The Young Center has offices in eight cities across the country, including the border. We are a relatively small organization, fighting for immigrant kids from all over the world, here on their own.
LEARN MORE
the event
THURSDAY, JULY 23 | 6:00PM
This event will support The Young Center’s New York office as they advocate for children on their own who have been separated from their families. Additional funds will be directed towards the Young Center’s mission to:
halt the administration’s new policy of turning away children seeking protection;
prevent ICE from deporting children into danger;
ensure the safe and expeditious release of children to their families as multiple detention facilities around the nation—including in NYC—report children with coronavirus exposure; and
reunite children and families separated by the “Remain in Mexico” policy at the border.
In addition to the collaborative work being developed by THE CREATORS COLLECTIVE’s Emily Wexler and Shannon Yu, this event will also feature:
Comedian, director, producer, writer, and Broad City actress Ilana Glazer
Award-Winning Author Isabel Allende
Award-Winning Author Maaza Mengiste
Award-Winning Author Valeria Luiselli
Storyteller Nestor Gomez
Young Center Founder and Executive Director Maria Woltjen
Young Zheng Sullivan, after whom the Young Center is named
and more!
artist bios
emily wexler & shannon yu
EMILY WEXLER (ES Wex) (she/her/hers/they/them/theirs) is a queer Brooklyn-based musician/song-writer/teaching artist/activist who employs the transformative power of musical story-telling as a means toward collective liberation. She experiments with alternative electronic music and performs original music exploring personal and social transformation throughout NYC and beyond. They also work on arts advocacy projects with a number of grassroots organizations, including Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, Brooklyn Community Bail Fund, and New Sanctuary Coalition. In her local queer community in Brooklyn, ES Wex organizes multidisciplinary events to build community and center femme, queer, trans, and POC artists. They have also written and performed their electronic music in a number of social justice-oriented grassroots theater and video pieces, mainly focusing on queerness and immigration. When ES Wex is not performing, she is a Teaching Artist, mainly working with middle and high school students, co-creating musical performance pieces to empower & amplify the strength of their individual and collective voices. eswex.com | @es.wex
SHANNON YU (she/her) is Taipei Born, New York based choreographer/dancer/photographer. As a female body that contain mostly masculine styles, such as Break dance, martial arts, Shannon constantly seek the balance or controversy in herself and the outside world to convey through her work. Shannon holds a B. Eng. in Civil Engineering from National Taiwan University, and M. F. A. in Performance and Performance Studies from Pratt Institute.
Shannon performed several works on venues in Taiwan such as National Intercollegiate Athletic Games opening and National Opera House “Window” project, and also showed her new works in La Mama, Movement Research in Judson Memorial Church, Triskelion Arts and New Step Series in Chen Dance Center in New York. shannonyu.smugmug.com | @hsiangru.yu