Author: Moriarty, Pia, Ph.D.

Publication Year:

Media Type: Periodical (article)

Summary:

The study focused on the largest immigrant and refugee population groups in Santa Clara concluded that the participatory arts serve essential functions for Silicon Valley's immigrants and refugees in their ability to help them assimilate as well as maintain their cultural identity.

Abstract: Cultural Initiatives Silicon Valley has just released the results of a groundbreaking study that examines participation in the arts by immigrants in Silicon Valley. Santa Clara County's population is 61% foreign born immigrants and their children. The County is home to people from 177 of the 194 nations of the world. Dr. Moriarty states that this region "offers a prime opportunity for studying the socioeconomic effects of globalization on the fabric of life in the . The study focused on the County's largest immigrant and refugee population groups: people arriving from Mexico, Vietnam, China, India, Iran, and the Philippines, as well as multi-ethnic Islamic communities, and inter-ethnic collaborations led by San José's Japanese American elders. The study's findings are indicative, and meant to identify cultural patterns, as well as lay the groundwork for additional studies of trends in art-making. Close to 90 participatory arts groups were sources for the six-month study, and data was gathered at over 100 performances, rehersals, planning meetings, amateur museum exhibits, street festivals, ethnic-based arts/language schools, and arts-mediated religious events. The study concludes that the participatory arts serve essential functions for Silicon Valley's immigrants and refugees in their ability to help them assimilate (to become civically and socially engaged) as well as, maintain their cultural identity.

Arts & Intersections: Immigration

Categories: Visual Art, Cultural Diversity, Community Development