“Afghan Boy” by Abdullah Elhan Credit: Courtesy

When the Brattleboro Museum & Art Center invited him to create an artwork reflecting on America’s 250th anniversary, Brattleboro photographer Jonathan Gitelson knew he wanted it to focus on the nation’s identity as a haven for immigrants. And the best way to incorporate the perspective of those newcomers was to ask them for it. Gitelson turned over the museum’s tall, outward-facing bay window spaces to five members of Brattleboro’s resettled refugee community, including some from the ArtLords collective of Afghan muralists who fled the Taliban in 2021. Marwa Safa Azimi, Butunga Bibimba, Abdullah Elhan, Sean Kiziltan and Zuhra Nadem met with Gitelson every few weeks for about a year to discuss themes such as migration and the meaning of home. They then created seven paintings, drawing on artistic traditions including Persian miniature painting, Pashto poetry and Congolese embroidery. Figures in many of the works carry symbols of movement and identity, like hearts, puzzle pieces and climbing ivy. Elhan created a suite of three paintings: In each, the people in them walk in different directions, as though they are still searching for a safe harbor.

‘Migration/Home’ On view through November 1 at Brattleboro Museum & Art Center.

This article appears in October 7 • 2026.

Alice Dodge joined Seven Days in April 2024 as visual arts editor and proofreader. She earned a bachelor's degree at Oberlin College and an MFA in visual studies at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. She previously worked at the Center for Arts and Learning in Montpelier, Vermont Studio Center in Johnson, and Midway Contemporary Art in Minneapolis. She is a visual artist with one lizard, two cats and too many chickens.