FEATURING WORKS BY PEIRAN LIU, DANIKA HLUSKA, AND MARIA GOTAY 
CURATED BY MARIA GOTAY

In Ladyville, the long, hot days are busy with repairs and chasing the children of Liberty Children’s Home, and the evenings are quickly swallowed by bedtime and the quiet of the small-town streets. From Belize, With Love is a tribute to the passion-driven work of Seattle U collective Professionals Without Borders in Belize and the children we both love and leave behind.

This multi-media exhibition, curated by Maria Gotay, showcases installation elements and shadowplay images of Liberty's children collaboratively-crafted by Maria Gotay MFAL '25, Danika Hluska BFA '25, and Pieran Liu BFA '24. Also included are scenic video snippets of Belize's surreal landscapes, as well as a short documentary about Liberty Children's Home by Liu with support from Hluska and Gotay. 

The images are simultaneously optimistic and haunting. Prompted by the question, "What does strength look like to you?," the shadowed bursts of energy are fortified by personality but framed by rough walls, revealing the duality of circumstances these children face. Their playful auras dance aside an opaque black door, its presence symbolizing the barriers that may hinder these underprivileged youth's aspirations.

Every day, these children are reminded that their paths in the world are lonely and challenging, yet they emulate joy and hope anyway. Viewers are left to ponder, and interact with, the identities of these shadows and the futures they will cast.