The MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History will showcase a traveling photo exhibit March 13-April 10 telling the visual story of global exchange programs over the years.
Global Ties Arkansas, a Little Rock nonprofit, is partnering with the U.S. State Department’s Office of Alumni Affairs, Global Ties U.S. and New York photography nonprofit Photoville to host the exhibit, “Impact of Exchange: Stories From U.S. Exchange Alumni.”
The public art exhibit combines photography with storytelling, and features images taken by American exchange alumni who participated in U.S. government exchange programs during their time abroad. Their experiences are printed on photo-quality vinyl panels for public display across the country, emphasizing experiences and adventures the alumni related from their travels.
One alumnus, S. Ra’phael Davis, received a $2,500 Benjamin A. Gilman Scholarship to study in the Netherlands after discovering the program as a student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. “Through that experience, I grew personally and developed a greater appreciation for my own country and others,” Davis said in an announcement about the exhibit. Davis is now a doctoral student in international relations at Ohio State University, and describes his experience abroad as “why today I do the work with students in international affairs and do research on security in west Africa.”
The State Department is funding the exhibit and Global Ties U.S. is implementing it in collaboration with Photoville and local organizations in cities chosen for public display.
Katherine Brown, president and CEO of Global Ties U.S., said the exhibit’s goal is “to spark curiosity and show that what seems foreign can be familiar for diverse U.S. audiences.”
The exhibit’s first stop, last fall, was in Portland, Maine, where more than 80,000 visitors viewed it.
Global Ties Arkansas works with the State Department and embassies around the world to identify young professionals who come to Arkansas and other states to exchange ideas with American professionals in similar fields. The nonprofit also informs Arkansans about international opportunities like personal exchanges, hosting foreign exchange professionals in their homes, and other aspects of citizen diplomacy.
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