Lakeland Community College’s Women’s Center hosts a traveling art exhibit and documentary film screenings relating to the record high numbers of displaced persons across the globe as part of the Diversity Matters series. The two-day event will be held Sept. 11 and 12, 2019 at Lakeland Community College’s main campus, 7700 Clocktower Drive, Kirtland, OH 44092.

The event is free and open to the public.

The Columbus Crossing Borders traveling art exhibit will be displayed on campus in The Gallery at Lakeland in D-Building starting Sept. 11 at 3 p.m. and ending Sept. 12 at 5 p.m. An opening reception will be held from 5-7 p.m. Sept. 11 where guests will also hear from Laurie VanBalen, the creator of the exhibit, on the inspiration behind the project. The exhibit includes the works of 34 artists depicting stories shared by refugees,offering small windows into their personal struggles. As the exhibit moves from left to right, each painting contains an element that reaches into the painting beside it, allowing for the neighboring artist to cross the borders and enter each other’s paintings. Throughout the exhibit, as paintings and diversities flow in their combined efforts, what emerges is a bigger, more beautiful outcome resultingfrom a cooperative community.

A documentary film titled “Breathe Free,” also a part of The Columbus Crossing Borders Project, will be screened on campus throughout the event with showings Sept. 11 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sept. 12 at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. on campus in the H-Building, Room H-116, located just down the hall from The Gallery at Lakeland. The film gives the audience an intimate look into the arduous journeys of refugees who are willing to share their stories. The film pays tribute to the resilience, strength of spirit and devotion that sustains those who have lived through such hardship.

By: Adam Continenza, Mktg and Communications Spclst