On Friday, January 17 through March 15, MUSEUM OF ART | FORT COLLINS will open the traveling exhibition Shelter: Crafting A Safe Home. Shelter is universally identified as a basic human right, yet refuge and protection are out of reach for millions worldwide. 
The United Nations reports a record of 65.3 million people were uprooted worldwide last year, a figure that has increased by 50 percent over the past five years. In the US, 2.5 million children are now homeless each year. This historic high represents one in every 30 children. 35 works in diverse craft media created by 14 contemporary artists will convey personal stories and experiences to demonstrate the local and worldwide impact displacement and housing insecurity have on individuals and society.
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his exhibition was organized by Contemporary Craft, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. MoA will also feature Colorado photographer Elliot Ross with his series American Backyard in our Lynnette Jung-Springberg Gallery. American Backyard looks at the reality of American lives on the border through the voices of those that occupy those spaces. His work has been widely published, with notable appearances in National Geographic Blending formalism with editorial storytelling, his work focuses predominantly on human stories that explore spaces in transition, among them, the rapidly changing American arctic, and the divisive nature of geopolitical borders including the plight of refugees seeking asylum in Europe and stories from marginalized American communities of the U.S. / Mexico borderlands. “It is such a pleasure to host the Shelter and Elliot Ross exhibitions in Northern Colorado as our community experiences these prevalent issues on many levels,” says Lisa Hatchadoorian, Executive Director.
