Vermont's dairy industry is sustained by migrant farmworker women who remain almost entirely unseen by the Vermonters who depend on them every single day. In partnership with Migrant Justice, the farmworker-led organization fighting for human rights and economic justice in Vermont since 2009, we co-create portraits with these women and bring the exhibition to farmers markets, county fairs, and events across Vermont. Your gift puts them in the room. Once you see them, you cannot unsee them.
Vermont's 1,500-2,000 migrant farmworkers make the state's dairy industry possible, yet most Vermonters never meet them. Women in this workforce are the least visible, isolated by gender, language, and immigration status. Migrant Justice documented over 100 Vermont farmworker detentions in 2025 alone, a tenfold increase. Dairy farm women, working in remote locations with no platform to be seen or heard, are among the most exposed.
The portraits and contextual photographs will exist. Your donation makes them travel. We are raising funds to produce a weatherproof, modular outdoor exhibition that moves from farmers market to county fair to community gathering across Vermont this fall, meeting people where they already are. Each stop puts these women's faces and words in front of the Vermonters who benefit from their labor. Understanding begins with seeing. Conversation follows. And from conversation, something shifts.
By meeting Vermonters where they already gather, this touring exhibition reaches far more people than a single gallery show, at the moments they are thinking about their food. Presenting these women as named, specific, visibly dignified people counters dehumanizing narratives and builds public support for the labor protections, healthcare access, and living wages they deserve. The portfolio is permanently owned by Migrant Justice, an enduring tool for advocacy, organizing, and fundraising.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
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