The Marymount School

 Second Installation

The large canvas panels were completely exposed to the elements for over two months — some faring better than others. The project’s second iteration was at the prestigious Marymount School of New York, which directly faces the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The border installation was altered in scale and material to accommodate a more traditional indoor venue. The images were transposed from 4 feet by 8 feet canvases to wood panels measuring 6 inches high and 12 inches long. 

Unlike when the canvas pieces were suspended from scaffolding, these smaller blocks can be installed edge-to-edge, creating more visual continuity. These blocks are also portable and adaptable to a range of indoor spaces. 

Accompanying Wall Text:

The art installation on view in our chapel, Separated: Border Wall Witness is making the world debut at Marymount School of New York. 

Young artist Mia Toledo has carefully catalogued the details of the entire 2,000-mile border between the United States and Mexico. From the Gulf of Mexico, which becomes the Rio Grande for the entirety of Texas, the border suddenly changes to an inorganic line that cuts straight through New Mexico and Arizona desert, becoming Mexicali and Tijuana until it suddenly ends several yards into the pacific ocean. Using a scale of six miles per one inch, the forty-eight custom painted panels guide the “pilgrim traveler” through marshlands, mountains, national parks, rivers, and deserts, all while passing intermittent government barriers. 

The US Catholic Bishops are guiding the American Church to stand in solidarity with immigrants and refugees and unite in prayer to accompany them. It is our hope that these murals, appropriate for every age, will help Marymount reflect on Pope Francis’ challenge to move from a culture of indifference to a culture of solidarity with the poor and marginalized. 

The sequence of panels invite forward movement and inspire solidarity to occur with the simple act of travelling by putting one foot in front of the other. The mural encourages those who are far away from the border’s brutal day-to-day realities to reflect on this social justice issue, an ideal theme for Lent, and to draw her or his own conclusion about how best to pray for migrant families. 

On view through March 2, 2020.