Our inaugural pop-up exhibition took place in the Connie Hillman Wellness Center at the Bridges JTED campus. This space hosted two conversations about health and community throughout the day. In the morning, leaders from Sun Corridor Inc. and the Tucson Metro Chamber of Commerce gathered for their end-of-year meeting. As these community leaders enjoyed lunch, they perused the powerful photovoice narratives created by students, focusing on health equity.

As the evening approached, the exhibition space transformed into a dialogue hub for over 100 JTED students from various health science programs. These future healthcare professionals engaged deeply with the photovoice works, responding to the thought-provoking question:

Their reflections highlighted the exhibition’s ability to inspire meaningful contemplation among their peers about their roles in addressing health inequities. This dual-audience approach on a single day exemplified the project’s core mission: staging pop-up exhibitions in community spaces to engage diverse audiences in meaningful dialogues about health equity, and what it means to be well in our interconnected borderlands community.

The Connie Hillman Wellness Center became a space where the power of photovoice created common ground between boardrooms and classrooms, and between policymakers and future caregivers.