By Amy Alice Chastain, Executive Director, Global Ties Iowa
From August 9 – September 10, Global Ties Iowa was honored to host the Impact of Exchange: Stories from U.S. Exchange Alumni exhibit in Cedar Rapids, IA. Installed across six large photo vinyl cubes on the grounds of the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in the historic Czech Village neighborhood, Iowa marked the penultimate location for this special traveling exhibit, which has been viewed by more than 90,000 people across the United States since its debut in 2023—including more than 1,800 people in Iowa.
Students from Kirkwood Community College pose with flags from their home countries. The students are studying at Kirkwood Community College as part of the Community College Initiative (CCI), an exchange program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State. All photos provided by Global Ties Iowa.
Impact of Exchange is a free public art exhibit that celebrates the transformative power of international exchange to inspire local audiences to become future exchange participants. The exhibit’s 38 striking images, representing cultures and experiences around the world, were taken by U.S. citizens during their time abroad on more than 20 U.S. government-sponsored international exchange programs, and paired with narratives to raise awareness of the broad array of government-sponsored exchange programs available to local community members.
The opportunity to host this exhibit proved instrumental in helping Global Ties Iowa expand our reach throughout eastern Iowa. The opening roundtable brought together international exchange program stakeholders and implementers to introduce the exhibit, including: Dalibor Mikulas and Ron Detweiler from the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library; Peter Gerlach from the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council; Madelina Young-Smith Director of the Office of Alumni Affairs at U.S. Department of State; Andrew Kelleher, a 2024 Benjamin A. Gilman Scholar; Peyton Pangburn a 2024-2025 Fulbright English Teaching Assistant; Karen Wachsmuth from University of Iowa International Programs; Dawn Wood and Whitney Uzomah from Kirkwood Community College Office of Global Learning. Many seeds were planted to further collaborate and amplify all the community has to offer. This vibrant conversation set the tone for the month and gave the exhibit an increased sense of urgency and purpose.
Global Ties Iowa Board of Directors President, Liz Bergeron, poses with her husband, Alan Bergeron, at the exhibit.
In the weeks that followed, attendees engaged in a screen-printing workshop with Andre Wright of the Wright House of Fashion, where they made their own t-shirts declaring their knowledge of the impact of exchange. Attendees also had opportunities to interact with Community College Initiative and Congress-Bundestaag Youth Exchange participants from around the world accompanied by Elizabeth O’Brien from Kirkwood Community College Office of Global Learning; explore careers in the foreign service with Diplomat in Residence Sara Veldhuizen Stealy; and hear impassioned readings from writers and poets from Santiago Giralt, Olena Huseinova, Peter Zavada Argentina, Ukraine, and Hungary, respectively, accompanied by Christopher Merrill and Cate Dicharry and the Fall Writers-in-Residence of the International Writing Program. Each of these activities served to communicate in a very vivid way, the opportunities available to everyone in the community to engage globally, right here in Iowa.
Through media coverage from the Gazette and Corridor Business Journal, promotional spots in the pregame editions of the Daily Iowan, a diverse range of exhibit visitors, and community support, the traveling exhibit significantly increased the exposure of our organization.
One of the most rewarding aspects of hosting the exhibit was going into area high schools and sharing information with school counselors and leadership. This included information about the exhibit and about Global Ties Iowa to let local schools know we’re here to support them with information whether through printed materials, direct conversation or presentations to students and families.
Two community members engage in conversation about the Impact of Exchange exhibit.
We have so many families and young people here in our area who had no idea that global exchange was even possible before this exhibition. I was only 11-years-old when I first recall deciding to study abroad, and I had no idea how to pursue such a path. I didn’t even know who to ask, which was my motivation for bringing this exhibit to Cedar Rapids. This is why it was so important to host this exhibit: I wanted the youth in our community to know what is possible and that these programs are for them.
For more detailed accounts of the Impact of Exchange in eastern Iowa, we encourage you to read the articles in the Gazette and Corridor Business Journal.
We would especially like to thank the countless volunteers and staff members of Global Ties U.S., the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Alumni Affairs, Photoville, Global Ties Iowa, and the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library who contributed to the success of the exhibit.