Border Stories: Paintings and Poems by Shaun T. Griffin
In Border Stories, poet and artist Shaun T. Griffin brings the stories from the struggles of life at the border into a series of watercolor paintings and poems. Shaun draws from his lifetime of experiences in service to the greater community. He co-founded and directed Community Chest, a rural social justice agency, for 27 years. Because the Light Will Not Forgive Me—Essays from a Poet was released by the University of Nevada Press in 2019. His most recent book of poems is The Monastery of Stars (Kelsay Books, 2020).
This exhibition was on display December 2, 2021 – January 21, 2022 at the Nevada Humanities Program Gallery in Las Vegas. An opening reception and discussion took place at the Nevada Humanities Program Gallery and Art Square Courtyard on Thursday, December 2, 2021, from 5 to 8 pm. Watch a replay of the discussion below.
“As I started to work on these paintings (and long beforehand), I pulled articles and pictures from the paper when I was stopped cold by their urgency—whether or not I could paint them. I knew they were a compelling link to their humanity—and that’s what gets lost. We forget these are people first, without qualifiers of country, of origin.
They helped remind me I could not forget their faces, however inconceivably torn from what they left behind. ”
Detail + Gallery Views
