Gift to America 2.0

Standing in St. Nicholas Croatian Catholic Church, surrounded by Maxo Vanka’s murals, feels profoundly like entering a dialogue that spans generations. As a migrant myself and a participant in the Gift to America 2.0 initiative, I felt a deep connection to the murals. They served as a compelling visual language, allowing me to engage with Vanka on enduring themes present in our work: migration, motherhood, and the pursuit of justice.

 I am honored to contribute to the ongoing legacy of the Vanka Murals through this new work. Despite the many years since their creation, the power and vibrancy of these murals continue to resonate deeply with me, echoing aspects of my own life journey as someone who has migrated and found a home in a new land. This Gift to America project provides a significant opportunity to extend a message of empathy and understanding to others who are currently navigating similar paths of migration.

– Sheila Cuéllar-Shaffer

Sheila Cuéllar-Shaffer is a Colombian-American artist and her work conveys ideas of human behavior, the nature of political power and societal structures, particularly relating to the experiences of female-identifying individuals and migrant communities. Her work has been shown at the Carnegie Museum of Art, Susquehanna Museum of Art, Kniznick Gallery at Brandeis University, The Westmoreland Museum of American Art, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, and The State Museum of Pennsylvania. cuellarshaffer.com

Inspired by three Maxo Vanka murals that depict the experiences of immigrant mothers, I looked into themes of sacrifice, resilience, and cultural preservation. These murals portray mothers who raised their sons to fight in wars, to labor within American industry, and to endure the battlefield. I focus on the figures of these grieving mothers, extracting their stories to honor their strength and sorrow.

Drawing from the color palettes of the mothers within the murals, another layer of historical significance is added: the tradition of 12th to 14th-century Croatian tattoos worn by women. These tattoos, originally adorning Croatian women as a form of beautification, evolved during the Ottoman invasion into symbols of protection and resistance. As Ottoman forces encroached upon their lands, the tattoos became talismans – marks of unwavering Christian faith meant to deter conversion and protect against kidnapping.

Reimagining these tattoo patterns through indigenous beading techniques, by superimposing the silhouettes of the grieving mothers upon these intricate designs. The fusion of imagery speaks to the intergenerational strength of women who have faced adversity and preserved their identities against the threat of erasure.

The final pieces, envisioned as vinyl installation, are meant to be displayed upon the boarded-up schoolhouses of the St. Nicholas Church Campus. By situating these images within a neglected urban landscape, attention is to the persistence of memory, culture, and maternal strength even within spaces marked by abandonment.

– Fran Flaherty

Fran Flaherty is the creator and co-curator of Anthropology of Motherhood, Assistant Professor of Digital Art and Emerging Media and Director of FabLab at Carlow University. As a first-generation immigrant mother from the Philippines and a Deaf artist, her work explores migrant family relations, maternal feminism, disability aesthetics, and social connection through the care paradigm—the idea that human survival depends on love, kinship, and interconnectedness. A member of the #notwhite collective, Flaherty’s work is part of collections at the Smith College Art Museum, Dyer Arts Center, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, and Carnegie Mellon University Archives. franflaherty.com

‘Kathy, Queen of My Heart’ – This painting is a tribute to my mother, Kathy—an attempt to hold onto her, even as time and life have pulled us apart. Seated on a wicker throne, a detail vivid from my childhood, she appears calm, grounded, eternal. I rendered her in sculptural tones, inspired by bronze and gold patina, to give her presence a timeless, monumental feel—like a figure cast in memory and reverence.

From the lower left corner, my own arm reaches for her—a gesture of longing, desperation, and devotion. The scars on the arm speak to the pain I’ve carried since losing her, the weight of grief I’ve struggled to put into words. We never got to say goodbye. This painting holds that silence.

Inspired by Maxo Vanka’s maternal tributes and sacred symbolism, I wanted to elevate my mother’s memory while being honest about the emotional landscape I’ve been navigating. This work is about love, loss, and the aching space between. It’s not closure—but it’s a step toward healing, one brushstroke at a time.

– Juliandra Jones

Juliandra Jones is a self-taught mixed media artist, muralist, live painter, entrepreneur, and educator. She uses vinyl, acrylic and aerosol paint, and natural elements– like crystals– in her paintings, woodcuts, sculptures, and public art projects to explore themes of social justice and self-care. Her art brings people together, elevates marginalized voices, and centers happiness and joy. Her work and live-painting exhibitions include: the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Showcase Noir, the Canvas of Words Series, Double Mirror Exhibit Southside Art Crawl, RAW Artists presents: MAGNIFY, The Black Student Unions’ Sip & Paint (Binghamton NY), and the Divine 9 Greek Art Show (Los Angeles, CA). pbjcustoms.com

Khaled Misplaces a Photograph of His Mother’s House in Nablus is a non-narrative experimental film that explores dislocation and migration through the liminal/transient space of a motel. We have chosen this setting due to the transitory loneliness and superficial familiarity inherent in its very nature. In this sense, motels represent a state of mind felt by the most uprooted among us: migrants and cultural outsiders. The films explore the concept of motels as “non-places” (as described by Marc Augé) – transient spaces where people can remain anonymous – against the concept of “non-personhood” that our society often bestows on migrants, drawing on the works of prominent Arab thinkers such as Edward Said, Mahmoud Darwish, and Amin Maalouf.

The piece consists of two connected films: Film A features static tableaus of Khaled, a Palestinian man who is packed but not ready to leave without his missing photograph, paired with empty spaces of the motel (haunted by a resident ghost). Film B shows tight close-ups of Khaled’s hands searching through his belongings, coupled with a mysterious gloved hand that appears in quick flashes, reminiscent of a TSA agent. The two separate but interconnected films (displayed on two CRT-TVs, side by side) mirror the viewing experience of standing in the St. Nicholas Church and engaging with multiple murals simultaneously.

We were inspired by Vanka’s unvarnished depiction of the immigrant experience in America through the poetic symbolism and dark imagery that adorn the walls. With our piece, we sought to capture Vanka’s unsettling atmosphere as a continuing study of themes including social inequalities, displacement, and sacrifice.

– Ahmed & Lily Ragheb

Ahmed & Lily Ragheb are a filmmaking duo based in Pittsburgh, PA. Their films emphasize identity, feminism, cultural dislocation and domestic relationships, and are noted for their use of voiceover and mixed media. Their work has screened at world-renowned festivals including International Film Festival Rotterdam, the Cairo International Film Festival, Uppsala Short Film Festival (Nominated, Ingmar Bergman Award) and Athens Int’l Film + Video Festival, as well as the Arab American National Museum and the Mattress Factory Contemporary Art Museum. Together they founded the independent production company Studio Ragheb. studioragheb.com