Press Release

Borderland Collective is a participatory social art project that utilizes photography to "facilitate collaborative storytelling between artists, teachers, youth, and families in the US/Mexico borderland region." The organization engages collaborative art practices as a critique of the narrow historical narratives constructed by those in power. Examples of the youth and families involved in Borderland Collective projects include: young women negotiating between their Native American traditions and the urban lifestyle in Albuquerque, NM; African and East Asian refugees searching for a sense of home in San Antonio, TX; and young men who live in Presidio, TX but work on ranches in Mexico.

Jason Reed, Founder and Director of Borderland Collective, imagines The Will to Believe in Something More as "a collective poem, one that illuminates life as a young American while simultaneously troubling forgone notions of who holds knowledge, what stories are told, and who controls the liminal space of history's creation." Taken by young people ages 8-20, the photographs included in the exhibition offer intimate access to their (often overlooked) lives and promote an inclusive dialogue about identity and the history of contemporary America.

Reed, who is currently Assistant Professor of Photography at Texas State University, San Marcos, received his MFA from Illinois State University in 2007. Borderland Collective projects have been exhibited at San Antonio Central Library, San Antonio, Texas; la Asamblea Legislativa del Distrito Federal, Mexico City, Mexico; and Amnesty International Human Rights Art Festival, Washington, D.C. For more information about Borderland Collective, please visit: http://borderlandcollective.org.

The exhibition is co-sponsored by MECCPAC, a Dean of Students Diversity Initiative, and Theatre of Ted. It is also partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.