BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WBNG) — The Broome County Arts Council has launched The America 250 Project, a community-wide storytelling initiative inviting local residents to share their lived experiences and what America means to them.
Around 50 artists from the Binghamton area submitted works for the exhibition, which includes paintings, poems, songs, written memories, stories, photographs and drawings. The works are on display at Art Path Gallery through July 25.
‘Really special pieces’
Constance Barns, gallery and education manager for the Broome County Arts Council, said the project was open to all forms of expression.
“Whether it was an immigrant experience, whether it’s how you’re living now, whatever it is, we just want to know what you’re thinking and what your upbringing was like, all of it,” Barns said. “So we asked them to express themselves verbally or through painting or any kind of work. And we ended up with some really special pieces.”
Barns said her own family history shaped her connection to the project.
“I come from a first-generation Greek and the experiences that my family had in the old country, we’re still trying to figure out, because they didn’t talk about it,” Barns said. “And then when they came over to the US, that’s all they wanted to talk about, was their experience here. That’s all they wanted to say.”
Upcoming events
An opening reception is scheduled for Friday, July 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Art Path Gallery.
A live reading of the poems will take place July 16 at 6:30 p.m. Barns said she hopes the event resonates with attendees.
“I think that they will be very appreciative. I think it will be emotional for some,” Barns said. “And that’s what I’m hoping is that drives it right to the heart.”
The exhibition remains on view at Art Path Gallery through July 25. More information is available on the Broome County Arts Council’s website.
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