Using the Visual Arts to Form an Intervention Design Concept for Resettlement Support Among Refugee Women

Abstract

This article offers findings from workshops researchers undertook with 60 Myanmar refugee women who convened in small groups of 10 to envision the properties and functioning of a resettlement community center in Dallas, Texas. The intent of the center is the preservation of Myanmar culture while it enables members to accommodate the demands of social integration in American society. In each workshop, a Myanmar artist captured group discussion through storyboarding. The artist then visually portrayed in painting or pencil a principal metaphor informing the resettlement supports participants wanted for themselves and their families. The authors consider the applicability of the arts as a tool for visually representing intervention concepts. Those visual images can inform the design of a support system that participants would find culturally acceptable, practical, and inclusive of the multiple ethnicities that form the Myanmar refugee community.