CSB and SJU artwork professor served as artist-in-residence at Arab American National Museum

For Andrea Shaker, it was a chance to develop and broaden as an artist whereas extra totally exploring her personal heritage.

That’s why the professor of artwork on the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University jumped on the probability to fill one of many handful of artist-in-residence slots supplied every year by the Arab American National Museum (a Smithsonian affiliate) in Dearborn, Michigan.

Shaker, who grew up in Connecticut, spent September and October on the museum exploring the archives, placing collectively a collection of images books specializing in the reclamation of the Arabic language misplaced to assimilation and immersing herself within the surrounding tradition of Dearborn, the primary Arab majority metropolis within the U.S.

“They typically offer five or six slots per year,” mentioned Shaker, an Arab American herself. “They do a name for purposes, and mine was accepted. That felt like fairly an honor as a result of it’s open to artists throughout the total spectrum of the positive arts – whether or not it’s within the visible, literary or performing arts.

“The museum is the only institution in the country dedicated to telling the Arab American story through our own voices,” she continued. “That’s very significant to our community because oftentimes our story is told in other ways by non-Arab voices in media and other platforms. And sometimes – though certainly not all – that coverage is not favorable.”

Shaker mentioned the assets the museum supplied allowed her to take a deep dive into the historical past of the Arab American expertise on this nation.

“To be able to live in Dearborn for two months and spend time researching in the Museum’s archives and collections was transformative to me as an Arab American artist,” mentioned Shaker, whose personal work is interdisciplinary in nature, mixing writing, images and even experimental movies.

“I was able to access a rich and growing archive of photographs, written documents, objects and more that tell the story of the Arab migration to the U.S. over different periods and waves. I spent a lot of time in the library and archives researching. Having all that at my fingertips was incredible.”

The result’s a collection of small hand-held artist’s books titled (re)claiming and (re)establishing my mom tongue, which blends her personal writing and photographs with different supplies found within the archives trying on the expertise of Arab immigrants throughout totally different durations as they tried to take care of their cultural heritage and traditions whereas making a brand new house within the US.

“I was exploring the idea of what a mother tongue means in the sense of belonging, and what the partial or full loss of that mother tongue as a result of the forces of assimilation might mean as well,” she mentioned. “I used to be in a position to do a variety of studying and researching within the museum archives, significantly migratory photos over totally different durations of time. There was a invaluable picture album of household images from 1925 to ’27 I got here throughout that I used to be ready to make use of and match into my work.

“The idea is that the books from this series could be placed in spaces where people can interact with them. They are small and fit within the palm of one’s hand. This intimacy is intentional,” she added. “It appears to be like like there are 4 libraries within the Dearborn and surrounding areas – together with two public and two college – involved in having them obtainable for his or her patrons and constituents. The thought is to launch the mission in early April (2026), which is Arab American Heritage Month.

“Hopefully, this work can create a larger community discussion around the idea of what a mother tongue is and how it relates to our identities and our senses of belonging and community.”

Shaker had visited Dearborn briefly on three different events however mentioned this was the primary probability she’d actually needed to discover the neighborhood.

“It happens to be the city in the U.S. with the highest concentration of Arab Americans, and it was incredible for me to look around and see the restaurants, coffee shops and storefronts where a good portion of the signs are in both English and Arabic,” she mentioned. “When you go to the grocery retailer, oftentimes Arabic is the predominant language you hear spoken.

“That was one beautiful takeaway I got from the experience, just feeling that sense of being very at home surrounded by the sights and sounds of Arabic culture.”

Shaker – who’s on skilled go away from CSB and SJU this semester – additionally mentioned it was useful to take the time to decelerate and suppose extra deeply about her personal artwork, tradition and beliefs.

“One of the other big aspects that came from this, in terms of what I will bring back to my own students, is an even greater appreciation of the importance of being true to your compass and what your truths are,” she mentioned. “That’s one thing that’s vital whether or not you’re a pupil taking one artwork class, or an artwork main taking a number of courses.

“We all have our own background and history, and I think it’s essential to understand and acknowledge what they mean to us. Art has the power to uniquely express these histories and identities. It also has the potential to comment on them and to create meaningful community dialogues.”

“Another takeaway that was further reinforced, and that I will bring back for students, is that the artistic process is something to spend time with and that art is something to fully understand through our hearts, minds and bodies – our full being,” she added. “Spending time with this course of may end up in artwork experiences which might be transformative for ourselves and our communities.

“I would say that this expression and dialogue are at the root of the Benedictine liberal arts at CSB and SJU.”