Multimedia Artist, DACA Recipient, completes George Washington Athenaeum Portrait in Welcoming America PSA

Mar. 28, 2019

At a time when the immigration debate is at a fever pitch and immigrants are framed by statistics and policy discussions, Welcoming America reveals an online series to spotlight immigrants’ journeys to the United States.

Welcoming America is a nonprofit that helps communities across the country achieve prosperity by becoming more welcoming toward immigrants and all residents. The films were created by Welcoming America’s San Francisco-based creative agency TBD.

David Lubell, Welcoming America's Founder and Founding Director says:

“We want people in their community to learn stories about immigrants’ contribution to their communities so we are telling stories of peace in our American experience.”

TBD Founder, Rafael Rizuto, said:

“As a primarily immigrant creative shop, the sensitivity around inclusion, diversity, and acceptance in our community aligns with our beliefs and what it means to be an American immigrant.” 

 

Portrait of a Dreamer is the story of Fidencio Fifeld-Perez, an undocumented artist who comes to the US at age seven. Fidencio documents his journey to America though papal picados (Mexican papercutting) made of maps. Through this medium, he completes the iconic George Washington Athenaeum portrait on the dollar bill with a road map from Mexico to the United States.

In Fidencio words:

“I think about the parallel of the portrait and of America representing the journey that all of us are still in... and by choosing to add another material to this portrait, I see it as an act of freedom.”

 

In United Voices, Natalie Ringsmuth, founder of #unitecloud, shares her vision for uniting a town that is divided by ethnicity, religion, and immigration. In St. Cloud Minnesota, Natalie works with individual immigrants in her community to find common ground through sharing stories that unite rather than divide.

Welcoming America’s movement has grown to a powerful network of nearly 200 municipal government and nonprofit members building more inclusive communities for 1 in 8 Americans, from Anchorage to Atlanta, Dayton to Boise and even to small rural towns in Minnesota and Nebraska.

The films are timed in conjunction with Welcoming America’s 10- year anniversary and in advance of their national meeting to be held in Pittsburgh in May 2019. Fifeld-Perez’s “Portrait of a Dreamer” will be on display at this time at the Andy Warhol Museum.