Butterfly Project

Families belong together. No human being is illegal. All people have human rights. "Never again" is now.

In June, Immigrant Heritage Month, the Immigration Action Coalition celebrates our heritage as an immigrant nation by featuring, and reviving, the Butterfly Project in which we participated at the beginning of 2020. This page shows the tiles UUAA congregants have created and where they have been placed in Washtenaw County.

The Ann Arbor Jewish Sanctuary and Immigration Network uses butterflies as a symbol of both migration and beauty to emblematize the notions that migration is beautiful and universal, that no human being is illegal, that child detention is a travesty. Most of all, “Never Again is Now.”. Through public art, the project intends to raise awareness of the on-going violations of basic human rights occurring in this country. The Butterfly Project is inspired by the stolpersteine stumbling stones embedded in the sidewalks of German cities. These small plaques serve to commemorate victims of the Holocaust who were forced into detention centers, or forced to emigrate to escape persecution.

The project adopts the butterfly, a symbol of the immigration rights movement. Butterflies migrate across borders to survive. Similarly, people migrate to survive, to reunite with family, to live in safety and without fear.

This is a "distributed" art project. Individuals across the community were asked to decorate the tiles and flyers provided with the symbolic butterfly and messages that address the humanitarian crisis at our borders.

TO PARTICIPATE: email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Download a map of the tile locations

ALL TILES Butterfly tiles created by UUAA congregants

Look for UUAA butterfly tiles around town!

If you would like to find our congregation's Migration is Beautiful butterfly tiles around town, you can download a map that gives a tour of the tiles, or read on to find out where each tile is located.

The Hair Station 48 E Cross St Ypsilanti