TALK ABOUT SOLE. Memorial High School students Sarah Schiefelbein, left, and Kaylee Winsand prepare an art installation that will be part of the Migrations project.

Since the dawn of history, humans have been in a constant state of migration. From its original home in Africa, the species has spread worldwide, and homo sapiens continue to migrate from one place to another, both literally and figuratively. The promises and perils of migration are never far from the headlines of the day, and – at least in a metaphorical sense – migration is daily reality for all of us as we transition between life stages, roles, and identities.

All of these themes – and more – are the subject of an ambitious, multidisciplinary project being undertaken by the Memorial High School Fine Arts Department. The project, Migrations: Home Was/Home Is, will be presented to the public from 7-9pm Wednesday, May 25, at the high school. The event, which will include performances and exhibitions spread throughout the school, will include theater (both on stage and immersive), visual art, film, dance, music, and poetry – both on their own and in a variety of combinations. Those who attend will be issued a “passport” (which was designed by students in a graphic arts course) and will collect stamps as they “migrate” around the school throughout the evening.

“One of the most important parts of this is reinforcing empathy.” – Memorial High School teacher Amber Dernbach, on the Migrations project

Memorial drama teacher Amber Dernbach explained that Migrations had its origins last year when she and several other teachers engaged in earnest conversations about the worldwide refugee crisis, particularly in the Middle East. (According to the United Nations, nearly 60 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced by war.) A desire to bring attention to this problem eventually dovetailed with the teachers’ longstanding desire to pursue an interdisciplinary project, and Migrations was born.

After the school day ended on a recent afternoon, groups of students and teachers worked throughout the school to prepare their elements of Migrations. In what’s normally a back room where stage sets are crafted and stored, students and teachers carefully strung dozens of children’s shoes on fishing line. The shoes will be hung from a hallway ceiling, each one of the 685 representing 100 children who arrive unaccompanied on the southern border of the United States annually.

“It’s our attempt at trying to humanize data a little bit,” said Lindsey Brandrup, an English teacher and adviser to the school’s Amnesty International chapter. Dernbach explained that the shoe display is similar to a project by famed Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who has created installations with thousands of life jackets used by refugees who fled to Europe.

The shoes were being strung together underneath an enormous green tent, which some of Dernbach’s theater students will transform into a refugee camp for a performance piece called “Life in the Camps.” Elsewhere, other students will offer monologues and performances on the theme of Migrations. Some are fictionalized – such as a piece in which a father and son share opposing opinions about immigration – while others are personal, including real-life stories from students who have immigrated to the United States.

“One of the most important parts of this is reinforcing empathy,” Derbach said.
The visual arts also run throughout Migrations. Art teacher Kelle Moran said that the school’s annual spring visual art show has been made part of Migrations, with students drawing inspiration for their works from the theme and its offshoots, including transformation, identity, passage, movement, and journey.

The project is the result of hard work by about 10 teachers and hundreds of Memorial students, some of whom are involved in more than one element. “It’s something that people have been wanting to do for years,” explains Memorial senior Kaylee Winsand, who is both a choir member and a visual artist. “I think it will bring a lot of people experiences they wouldn’t have experienced otherwise.”

The evening will include seven ongoing sessions and seven 15- or 30-minute sessions, such as musical performances, theatrical presentations, and film screenings. It all overlaps, so attendees are encouraged to wander around to experience as much as they can. “I don’t want anybody to have to feel they have to sit through everything,” Derbach explained.

Even though Migrations is still a work in progress, those involved have already judged it a success. As Moran says of her art students, “They’re already asking, ‘What’s our theme for next year?’”

Migrations: Home Was/Home Is, presented by the Memorial High School Fine Arts Department Wednesday, May 25, 7-9pm * FREE * Memorial High School, 2225 Keith St., Eau Claire (enter through Door 4 or Door 1)