Adam Perez, Thermal, California.

(PARAMUS, NJ) -- Gallery Bergen presents the exhibition, Arrivals/Departures – East80West, curated by Bay Area artist/curator Cece Carpio and Gallery Bergen Director Tim Blunk, from February 8 - April 12, 2024. Seven contemporary artists from both the West and East Coasts – connected by US Interstate Route 80 – examine the bicoastal realities of new immigrants to the United States.

Exhibiting artists include: [WEST COAST] Adam Perez, Cece Carpio (curator and artist), Sunroop Kaur, Kacy Jung and [EAST COAST] Jacqueline Herranz Brooks, Layqa Nuna Yawar, and Hobong Kim.

This exhibition is inspired by Bergen Community College's ongoing Campus Read of A Map Is Only One Story: Twenty Writers on Immigration, Family, and the Meaning of Home, edited by Nicole Chung and Mensah Demary. It is also part of a larger humanities project at BCC called East80West that examines Bergen County residents' histories, experiences, and stories of immigration.

Layqa Nuna Yawar, Blue Origin

The project, led by Dr. Christine Eubank and Dr. Leigh Jonaitis are collecting oral histories from students and other Bergen County residents which will be used to create an original verbatim theater performance in the fall of 2024. Focusing on the theme of arrival and departure, migration and immigration, the projects add depth and breadth to Bergen County’s rich history while also mapping cultural throughways that connect the region, the world, and everyone in it.

The exhibition takes its name from US Interstate Route 80 - a slender strip of asphalt that joins the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco with the George Washington Bridge in Bergen County, thereby connecting two coasts of this vast country and two experiences of those who continue to arrive here in search of a new life. The contributors from each coast are award-winning contemporary artists whose works have been commissioned by prominent museums, the Port Authority, and published in major publications.

Photographer Adam Perez's series in this exhibition was featured in the New York Times Magazine, Time Magazine, the LA Times, and in documentary format at CNN; Layqa Nuna Yawar's murals can be seen at Newark Liberty Airport.

Hobong Kim, Others.

There will be an Opening Reception on Thursday, February 8 at Gallery Bergen (West Hall, 3rd floor, Bergen Community College, 400 Paramus Road, Paramus, NJ) starting at 6:00pm.

Gallery Bergen, the visual arts presentation space of Bergen Community College is located in Paramus, NJ - just 10 miles from New York City. This spacious and state of the art space has shown works of all media from some of the most important contemporary artists in the US, including most recently Faith Ringgold. Gallery Bergen is the winner of the New Jersey Council on the Humanities 2024 Stanley N. Katz Prize for Excellence in the Humanities.

Gallery Bergen presents exhibitions and performances by BCC students and faculty as well as curated exhibitions that connect with our community, our curriculum, and the important issues of our time. Gallery Hours: Monday: 11:00am – 5:00pm; Tuesday: 3:00pm – 7:00pm; Wednesday: 12:30pm – 6:30pm; Thursday: 2:00pm – 8:00pm; and Friday: 12:00pm – 6:00pm