The Skirball Presents El Sueño Americano / The American Dream: Photographs by Tom Kiefer

Running from October 17 through March 8, 2020 at the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, The American Dream features more than 100 photographs collected by Kiefer during his time working as a janitor in Ajo, Arizona at a Customs and Border Protection station. These photographs depict the assortment of objects carried to the border by migrants that were deemed "non-essential" or "potentially lethal" and discarded by border agents. Included among these objects are personal and sentimental items, hygienic products, and children's toys. In carefully arranging and photographing the discarded objects, Kiefer amplifies the often untold stories of migrants who pass through Customs and Border Protection stations every day and illuminates the deeply unique journeys that they face.