ISLA HOSTS ANNUAL MES DE ARTE EXPO AND ANNOUNCES SPRING FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN
DURHAM, N.C.
ISLA will be hosting its annual Mes de Arte Expo on Saturday, March 11th, from 10 a.m-12 noon EDT. The event will take place at St. Thomas More Elementary School, located at 920 Carmichael St. in Chapel Hill. ISLA’s Mes de Arte Expo will showcase artwork created by students in ISLA Los Sábados — a weekly educational language immersion program for children ages 3-17 that seeks to close the opportunity gap and open doors for Hispanic/Latino/e youth, their families and the community.
ISLA invites community members to come see the amazing art projects ISLA students have created and experience the meaningful work that is done at ISLA Los Sábados. Student artwork will center around this year’s theme: “Strengthening our cultural connection through Latin American languages”.
Each February during the Mes de Arte or Month of Art, ISLA students work on art projects that they will showcase at the end of the month to ISLA families and their local community. The Mes de Arte Expo incorporates ISLA’s interdisciplinary approach to Spanish immersion by encouraging students to explore their heritage and connection to the language through art.
At the exposition, ISLA is excited to be announcing its Spring Fundraising Campaign, “La Tierra Que Nos Sostiene.” The campaign was inspired by a quote by Frida Kahlo, one the most inspiring Latina artists: “Échame tierra y verás como florezco.” Throughout February and March, we’ll be raising funds with the goal of continuing to cultivate and sustain our free equitable heritage language program. “La Tierra Que Nos Sostiene” represents the growth of cultural connection through the historical barriers our ancestors have overcome, the history of Latin American cultures and how we use our voices to advocate for our community. Our Spring Fundraising Campaign will allow ISLA to continue providing culturally affirming educational spaces for students to feel proud of their bilingualism, ancestry and Latin American cultures.
The Mes de Arte Expo is open to the public and free to attend. Those interested in attending and supporting ISLA’s fundraising campaign can register online here. To donate to ISLA’s “La Tierra Que Nos Sostiene” campaign, please visit www.laislaschool.org/donate/.