P’alante: Stories Moving Somerville Forward

Please join us for the gallery opening of “P’alante: Stories Moving Somerville Forward,” a photo project by Mario Quiroz.

Photographs will be on display in the West Branch Atrium, and we will screen a short film created for this project in collaboration with the Somerville Media Center.

Photographs will be on display from August 1st-September 30th at the East and West Branches of the library, and from August 1st to August 30th in the Central Library Auditorium.

About P’alante

“P’alante: Stories Moving Somerville Forward” is an art exhibition by local photographer Mario Quiroz, in collaboration with Somerville Media Center and CAAS, and with support from Somerville Department of Racial and Social Justice and Somerville Office of Immigrant Affairs.

Artist’s Statement

“P’alante” is a celebration of the many wonderful things that make up our immigrant communities in Somerville. Our personal, family, and collective history is based on resilience.

We have always taken setbacks as a way to push us forward–because forward is the only way that we know. In the end, our spirits and endurance will always be on the right side.

We believe that now, more than ever, it’s worth it to create visual records and to celebrate those who are taking steps ahead (no matter how small or big).

Small entrepreneurs, new home owners, old-time renters, recent graduates, young families… these are some of the examples of going further, going P’alante.

Exhibition Photos


There is more to be done than to be said. We make community by being part of it.	The road that is left behind becomes smaller as we walk towards a better tomorrow.

If we wait long enough, we will be so glad to see where it all began.	The cycle of life goes on no matter what. Love and family are the key ingredients that make optimism grow.

It is a sense of togetherness and belonging that gives a true north to our identities.	A little seed can become a great tomorrow. Witnessing its growth is a blessing.

We are a continuation of the past, the same way we are a living future.	If we only could hear the wisdom that comes from experience, our collective future would be brighter.

The strength that has always moved us forward comes from the awareness of a better tomorrow.	We are always building, we are always rebuilding, because that is who we are and what we do.