A new exhibit opening July Fourth at the IMPeRFeCT Gallery in Germantown features the artwork of immigrants unified by their choice to live and work in Philadelphia.

“Indivisible,” named for a line in the pledge of allegiance, champions the voices and experiences of immigrants of all backgrounds and birth places. 

“We have immigrant artists from several different nations beyond just Latin America,” said Jasmine Rivera, a co-curator of the show. “When you say ‘immigrant,’ it is automatically assumed the individual is Latin American. In Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, there are immigrants from every part of the world, of every race.”

It all began earlier this year, when the owners of IMPeRFeCT Gallery, Renny Molenaar and Rocio Cabello, invited longtime friends and local artists Chela Ixcopal and Rivera to curate an exhibit. The show is, in part, a simple product of the friendly welcoming attitude of the gallery owners, the show’s curators said. Ixcopal affectionately describes Molenaar and Cabello as “elder anarchists” because their history and experience in the arts is all about “going against societal norms.” The owners appoint curators they believe will bring the community together, Ixcopal said. 

This exhibit promises to be a scrappy, democratic collage of all kinds of art that reflects the diversity of those who have created it. Despite the fact that the gallery itself is quite small, the owners manage to use every centimeter of space for art installation; allowing more real estate for the art. 

In “Indivisible,” some of the artists are self-taught and some are well known in their own countries, Ixcopal said. Their experiences are varied. 

“Ironic,” is how Ixcopal and Rivera, American citizens with immigrant parents,  describe their choice to open on the Fourth of July, and to name the exhibit after a line in the pledge of allegiance. Rivera asserts, “We have to find the humor in it all. To be able to continue, we have to find the joy.” The exhibit is a celebration that reminds us of the richness and closeness of our communities, she continued. We are meant to laugh as much as to cry.

Placing the opening on July Fourth is also, to some degree, a reclamation. The idea is that, in a nation built by Indigenous peoples – immigrants both by force and by choice – their impact should be celebrated on the Fourth of July with as much vigor as our celebrations for those who enslaved and diminished them. Rivera describes these crucial immigrants as the “economic engine; the folks that make [and made] this country tick.” 

This show comes at an important moment for immigrants in the United States.The expansion of I.C.E. enforcement means more arrests and detentions for crucial members of our community. These are real world consequences for our parents,  children, neighbors, co-workers, and friends. Jasmine notes, “I know way too many people in Philadelphia with families who have been a part of the community for years, who have been arrested and detained and who have to fight a deportation case.” 

“The mission of this exhibit is resistance towards those who don’t want us here,” Ixcopal said.  “It may feel a little inconvenient or uncomfortable for non-migrant visitors, and we don’t shy away from that. That same discomfort accompanies the discomfort of trying to get your documentation, and to live peacefully as a migrant in America.” 

For Rivera, the mission is slightly different. “I always want folks to feel empowered to create change,” she said. “Let’s celebrate, come together and find unity.” 

IMPeRFeCT Gallery is at 5539 Germantown Avenue. For information, visit imperfectgallery.squarespace.com .