Visitors to the High Bridge Glens Park have seen some new faces recently, not all of which require masks. Earlier this month, the city, in collaboration with Collide: Cuyahoga Falls and the Global Understanding Research Initiative group at Kent State University, unveiled a new temporary public art exhibit throughout the park’s open walking path consisting of portraits that feature community members who hail from other parts of the world and are now living in Northeast Ohio.
The exhibit, entitled “We the People,” includes 25 portraits reaching seven feet tall, each with the subject’s story alongside their photo. The community members photographed have come from all around the world, including Nepal, Congo, Saudi Arabia, and Germany. This geographic diversity helps bring a voice to those often underrepresented in the art world. “I am grateful to all of the community members who are featured in the portrait exhibit for sharing the noble stories of their personal journeys to our region,” Mayor Don Walters stated in a press release about the exhibit. “By seeing their faces and reading their stories, we all become better connected to our fellow community members, and our neighborhoods become stronger and more closely knit.”
“Refugees are human too. Americans have to give everyone respect and freedom. We all want the same thing,” explains Frank Saidi, one of the portrait subjects. Saidi, originally born in a refugee camp in Tanzania after his family fled for safety from the Congo, now lives and attends school in Akron.
The stories that accompany each photo discuss where the person or family came from and their struggle to find safety in the United States. For some this may have meant finding love in a refugee camp, while for others death came before the idea of safety could be sought. Each person has a different life, but they all have the similar goals—happiness, prosperity, friends and family. “Everyone is the same. Just because someone is from another country, they aren’t scary or bad. They are often harder workers than most Americans,” Nilam Gimirey states in her accompanying biography. “Young refugees are motivated because they know their parents sacrificed so much. I would ask Americans to be more accepting of people of other cultures.”
For the photographer of this group, Erin LaBelle, each person’s photograph shows more than just their face. “Sitting across from each person, looking them deeply in the eyes and listening with my camera was transformative for me. All of them are a testament to human strength and resilience.” LaBelle, who has been a photographer for 24 years, was commissioned to create portraits of refugees in Northeast Ohio, with the help of fellow photographer Luigi Toscano who was in town while touring a similar display. Many of these portraits were made at the Exchange House in Akron’s North Hill neighborhood near where many subjects in the exhibit reside.
“I hope the portraits and stories open the heart of the viewer. I hope they grow empathy and awareness. I hope they see themselves in the faces staring back at them from the portraits,” LaBelle said.
“We the People” will be on display at High Bridge Glens Park through December 7.
