Our Exhibition Opening Program features the master artists
April Yang (Chinese traditional music on Guzheng) and Shikha Dwivedi (Indian embroidery)

Friends & Family Are Invited To Attend
Please RSVP by Friday, March 27, 2026

To RSVP, contact Lisa Aron, 856.825.6800, ext. 100
or email Iveta Pirgova, ipirgova@wheatonarts.org.

This traveling exhibition is a part of a bigger project celebrating the 60^th anniversary of the Immigration and Nationality Act (aka Hart-Celler) of 1965, which allowed for the lifting of certain restrictions on immigration from outside Europe and opened the doors for legal migrations from Asia, Africa, Latin America and other regions of the world. Soon after 1965 many new communities began making their home in New Jersey and continue to diversify its cultural landscape to the present day. 

Paved with Promise: Immigrants Who Shaped New Jersey’s Past and Present is a multimedia project that brings us inside the experiences of local residents who immigrated to New Jersey after 1965. It includes New Jersey Immigrant stories – a series of video documentaries – that are based on interviews, a traveling exhibition – Immigration and Cultural Heritage – that visualizes these stories, community conversations on topics of immigration and a culminating celebration in October of 2026. 

Paved with Promise is a project of the network of the NJ Folklife Centers and the NJ State Council on the Arts aiming to explore individual and group experiences of immigration as well as issues around preservation of cultural heritage and adaptation to new multicultural environments. The journey of immigrants is being revealed through storytelling, displays of artifacts, as well as a series of educational programs around the state.

Immigration and Cultural Heritage explores the challenges of leaving one’s homeland and dealing with the complexities of belonging and identity in unfamiliar places. The emotional journey to the unknown also relates to themes of fascination, loss, nostalgia, and the longing for connection. In other words, migration entails not just physical relocation, but also a profound reconfiguration of one’s sense of self and belonging. The symbolic significance of language and memory in the immigrant experience sheds light on the intricate interplay between individual experiences and cultural identity. 

The “suitcase” is a metaphor to understand how social ties to a homeland are taken and transformed to represent the connection between “the old” and “the new” home. The suitcase on display does not belong to any one individual. It contains objects that different people chose to bring with them – objects that reflect material or emotional needs, regardless of their reasons for immigration. The objects visualize cultural values, beliefs, memories, and community practices.

When packing to leave the homeland people place in the suitcase a variety of objects ranging from clothing, food, money and utensils to books, professional tools, religious items, documents, photographs, family heirlooms, souvenirs, and artworks. The suitcase can be viewed as a symbolic representation of the journey, containing both utilitarian everyday items, needed documents and objects highlighting personal and collective experiences. All objects narrate the challenges of the journey and reflect the intangible aspects of immigration.

The stories behind the objects underscore the enduring human quest for connection and belonging, offering insights into the existential challenges and transformative potential of immigration. The exhibition not only provides a glimpse into the concepts of family ties and cultural heritage, but also invites the viewers to examine what objects in their lives can reflect the ideas of heritage, memory, or community values.

Paved with Promise is a project of the network of NJ Folklife Centers and the NJ State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.