Sisters' Art Exhibit Targets Anti-Bilingual Education Law
Sisters Andrea and Elisa Johns' installation piece shows a picture of a young child hanging over a desk, below sits a small, shriveled cow tongue staked with an American flag. "We want this piece to be critical," Andrea Johns said of their exhibit, a statement against the anti-bilingual education measure approved by Arizona voters last November. "But we will definitely leave this one open to interpretation." Today, the young women will unveil their piece, Colonization of La Lengua: A Reclamation, at the Alwun House, a 30-year-old downtown Phoenix community arts program. The project, which includes pictures of children in the Valley, explores non-English-speakers' struggle with the language barrier, according to the sisters, who are Hispanic and U.S. citizens. The project was fueled by Proposition 203, which requires public schools in Arizona to end bilingual education, placing children with limited English skills in an intensive one-year, English-immersion program. "I want people to know we are not questioning the value of language proficiency," said Kim Moody, director of the Alwun House. "We are saying there are different ways to look at this law." Through their piece, the sisters want to create an open forum for anyone who sees flaws in the initiative. The exhibit will help parents learn about the specifics of Proposition 203 and sign petitions against it. Almost eight months went into designing the concept for the project, said Andrea Johns, a 21-year-old Phoenix native and a senior at Yale University, where she is majoring in American studies. "We had so many ideas but decided on Arizona classrooms as the example to bring attention to this matter this greatly," said Elisa Johns, a 24-year-old graduate art student at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The artists converted an empty space in the Alwun House at 12th and Roosevelt streets into a miniature classroom. Then Elisa Johns photographed several children of various ethnic backgrounds with emotional facial expressions to hang above the desks. The sisters, who grew up nearby, felt they needed a strong approach to illustrate their opinion. Dehydrating cow tongues and coating them in plastic, the girls inserted U.S. flags in the animal flesh on the desks. Andrea Johns said the tongues symbolize Proposition 203 treating non-English speakers like cattle. Proposition 203 supporters questioned the project and its motives. "I think some people have misread (Proposition 203)," said Margaret Dugan-Garcia, principal at Glendale High School. "I don't think anything is being devalued at all." There may be some skeptics, but the Johnses want their art to have a political voice. "A lot of people felt defeated with this law," Andrea Johns said. "But now we can motivate and inform them that there is hope." |