East Jordan Middle/High School

Comida, conversación y comunidad (Food, Conversation, and Community)

East Jordan (Established circa 1891, East Jordan, Michigan) is a town in northern Michigan with approximately 2,239 residents. Over recent decades, the seasonal agricultural industry and other factors have attracted a small but growing group of Spanish speakers from Latin American countries and the southern US to the area.

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East Jordan Middle/High School, Installation of “Comida, conversación y comunidad (Food, Conversation, and Community)” in Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial at Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum. Photo: Elliot Goldstein © Smithsonian Institution

Angela Barrera, a Spanish teacher at the East Jordan Middle/High School, observed that numerous students were unfamiliar with the Latino community, while many Spanish-speaking parents felt uncomfortable participating in traditional school activities. Students also recognized a lack of meaningful opportunities for engagement. In response, a student-led initiative emerged in 2023, focused on cultivating connections through culinary and linguistic exchanges. With events such as Noche Latina (Latino Night), the students’ work extended beyond the school, attracting participants from the broader region.

Through videos, photography, and drawings, this installation tells the story of a changing community coming together, highlighting themes of home, belonging, and the power of youth collaboration. Student collaborators include Roberto Ambrosio, Steven Anderson, Skylar Barnett, Kendra Behrendt, Isadora Boyer, Samantha Burks, Ezequiel Molina Chévez, Luis Carlos Chévez, Lindsey Cross, Mailey Hamilton, Madlyn Hardy, Elke Knauf, Lila Kelly, June Kirkpatrick, Ryder Malpass, Jonathan Morales, Jonathan Ringstrom, Alyssa Sherman, Sophia Snyder, Rachelle Villarreal, Kamryn Webb, William Webb, and Christine Whitaker. Student videographers Nick Bascom and Cole Hatfield. Student reporter Leah Marquardt.

Family and community collaborators include Rosa Ambrosio, Jose Ambrosio, Alelí Barrera- Bardeguez, Mike Behrendt, Sandra Behrendt, Angélica Chévez, Rosa Chévez, Luis Chévez, Vanessa Chévez, William Molina, Monica Rueda, Ana Villarreal, and José Villarreal.

Cinematography by Xhosa Fray-Chinn and Patrick Downer. Video editing by Khoo Guo Xiang.

Special thanks to Abner Bardeguez, Angela Barrera, Savannah Erxleben, and Melissa Lyons at East Jordan Public Schools; Cheri Leach at Raven Hill Discovery Center, East Jordan; Adolfo Méndez and Sandra Rios at TC Latino Grocery, Traverse City; Providence Farm, Central Lake; and Commongrounds Cooperative, Traverse City.

Graphic design by Beatriz Lozano.

This installation is made possible with additional support from Smithsonian Youth Access Grants for Youth Innovation in Rural America.

Map of the state of Michigan, including the oven mitt and upper peninsula, rendered in dark green against a light green background. The town of East Jordan is indicated at the top end of the oven mitt by a red dot with a pink star in it.
Aerial photograph of East Jordan, where a blue body of water separates to land masses connected by a narrow bridge.
Five students stand before a white magnetic board covered in magnets of various shapes. They are talking to someone out of frame as they place post-it notes on a matrix affixed to the board.
Three young individuals stand in an aisle of a grocery store lined with, among other things, cans of Goya beans. The individual closest to the forefront holds what appears to be a list and smiles at the camera.
Four individuals smile at the camera as they stand in the produce section of a restaurant.
A group of people of various ages stand on either side of a long table that dominates the middle of the photograph. The table is cluttered with bowls and pans as the people gathered prep food.