How to make the deaths of the 3,400 women, men, and children who have died trying to cross the Sonoran Desert of Arizona between the mid-1990s and 2022 tangible and personal? That was the immense task anthropologist Jason De León, executive director of the Undocumented Migration Project, set for himself. He created a participatory art project, Hostile Terrain 94, to memorialize those who have been lost and make the viewer a witness to the devastating impact of the U. S. Border Patrol’s immigration enforcement strategy. The exhibition includes over 3,400 handwritten toe tags representing migrants who have died. Each tag is pinned to a 15-foot map and geolocated to where the victim’s remains were found.

We custom designed this installation for the main foyer of the Eisenhower Library, creating unique exhibition panels, signage, and promotional materials. We even painted the lobby a rich charcoal to offset the installation and heighten viewers’ experience with the project.