City officials, along with other local patrons of the arts, recently gathered for the opening of the “Sanctuary City” exhibit at the Somerville Museum.

By Ryan DiLello

Only a day after the Republican governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, chartered a plane to fly migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, the Somerville Museum debuted its latest exhibit, Sanctuary City, curated by Julia Cseko.

Cseko’s exhibit explores the concept of sanctuaries, and in particular, the supremacist tendencies that necessitate them. In a curatorial statement, Cseko outlined the ways in which the wide-ranging art would motivate understanding and awareness to “create more welcoming and safe environments for immigrant and refugee populations.”

What is a sanctuary city? As cited in Cseko’s curatorial statement, the term refers to “municipal jurisdictions, typically in North America, that limit their cooperation with the national government’s effort to enforce immigration law.”

Massachusetts has eight such cities: Amherst, Boston, Cambridge, Concord, Newton, Chelsea, Northampton, and Somerville. While still operating legally, these cities sometimes refuse to share information with the federal government or detain migrants, in order to “reduce fear of deportation and possible family break-up among people who are in the country illegality, so that such people will be more willing to report crimes, use health and social services, and enroll their children in school.”

The curatorial statement clarifies that sanctuary cities do not have higher crime rates, and Cseko argues law enforcement resources can be “prioritized for better purposes.”

As a whole, the exhibit confronts assumptions about the experiences of immigrants and refugees by showcasing artists’ stories of love and family as well as trauma and violence.

The exhibit featured works from twelve emerging and mid-career artists across a variety of media, from film to cartoon. The exhibit will remain open until November 19, 2022.

The Somerville Museum is located at One Westwood Road, Somerville, MA. https://www.somervillemuseum.org.