Migrant Youth Photo Project

A photography project featuring migrant farmworker youth in Skagit Valley has been shown in galleries in New York, Portland, and Seattle, and will be featured in the Mexican Consulate’s virtual MEXAM NW Festival during Hispanic Heritage Month (Sept. 15–Oct. 15).

North Sound ACH Project Manager Marco Morales was one of the organizers of the project, along with the students in the Migrant Leaders Club at Mount Vernon High School, Underground Writing in Mount Vernon, and photographer Marilyn Montufar. She approached Morales, wanting to document migrant youth experience during COVID-19.

“The project bridges photography with youth writing to address how Latinx communities have been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic due to lack of resources, healthcare accessibility, and language barriers,” according to Montufar’s interview with the Frye Museum.

Morales shared that this club had previously published two books written by past students, reflecting on their experiences growing up as children of migrant farmworkers. Morales, Underground Writing, Montufar, and this year’s students will host a panel event at the MEXAM NW Festival, to talk about their project, on October 7 at 6 p.m. PST. Register to attend the panel here.

You can view the photographs and the essays at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery which hosted the Neddy at Cornish exhibition, and in the Frye Museum’s blog.