By Lainey Rehkemper
Students in Lisa Meierotto’s Fall 2024 GLOBAL 498 class have been working on an exhibit with the Boise Art Museum. The exhibit, “Hostile Terrain 94,” highlights the negative effects of policies designed to discourage undocumented migrants from attempting to cross the U.S.-Mexico border near urban ports of entry.
The students began their semester by reading “The Devil’s Highway” by Luis Alberto Urrea, a book that follows the journey of a group of men as they attempted to cross the Mexican border. “After reading the book, I was shocked. I had no idea how many people lost their lives trying to make the journey. It was shocking and tragic,” student Madeline Kuhn said.
After reading the book, students began installing the exhibit, writing and displaying over 4,000 geolocated toe tags with the information of migrants who lost their lives attempting the cross the border between 1994 and 2024. While the initial installation began in September, this project is ongoing through December 2024.
Students spend designated times at the museum each week where they talk with visitors about the exhibit and encourage them to actively participate in it by filling out a toe tag.
“This class has been so different than a lot of my other classes, it’s been really interesting engaging with the community and being off-campus,” student Lexi Byington said.
Members of the community can visit the exhibit at the Boise Art Museum until February 2025. Admission is free for Boise State students, staff and faculty. Questions can be directed to lisameierotto@boisestate.edu.
