Valarie Lee James, devotional artist, writer, and resident of the Arizona-Mexico borderlands, has been a Benedictine oblate of the Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in Tucson since 2010. A former art therapist, James is grateful for the universal language of art in her volunteer work with immigrants and asylum seekers. She is currently writing a book on art and faith on the border.
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From the eyes of babes: art of asylum
Give kids paper and crayons, and they will give you their hearts. At Tucson's Casa Alitas, a Catholic Community Services short-term shelter for immigrant families released from detention, kid's artwork covers the largest wall in the house. Guileless and profound, art by immigrant children puts the border rhetoric of adults to shame.