It’s a rainy morning as the sound of drilling and commuter traffic echo down East Main Street in Immokalee. Two people are in the final stages of installing murals that Naples portrait photographer Michelle Tricca has been visualizing for the past four and a half years.
“I'm again just filled with gratitude that this is actually happening," said Tricca. "How are these kids and these families going to feel when they go by and see their beautiful children represented in a 12-foot tall by nine-foot wide portrait?”
She’s reacting to a portion of a 50-foot-wide photography collage being attached to an exterior wall of Lipman Family Farms' produce-packing facility.
Tricca is transfixed by one of the black and white portraits. It’s her first time seeing it at this scale.
“I mean look at this!" Tricca exclaims. "I feel something with this.”
It's a boy she photographed at Village Oaks Elementary School in December. He’s making a muscle-man pose, flexing his right bicep.
“Look at this guy, second grade, showing me his strength," said Tricca. "Look at the conviction in his eyes. He's a badass.”
“The Face of Immokalee” is a public art installation that Tricca created to honor what she calls the true “soul” of Immokalee.
“I'm partnering with the residents of Immokalee to make a portrait and exhibit them publicly, and what inspired this really is the human condition.”
She took nearly 300 black-and-white portraits of Immokalee residents to create the murals. She shot the photos at sites from Village Oaks Elementary School, the Redlands Christian Migrant Association Immokalee School, Immokalee High School, to Pace Center for Girls, among a variety of others.
The images focus on individual character and expressions. Most of the photos are of children and young people who have spent all their lives — so far — in Immokalee.
“I'm remembering when I photographed them," said Tricca. "But now, they're these larger-than-life beings with hearts and souls, and a story to tell, and like, here it is.”
In 2018, Tricca became a mentor with The Immokalee Foundation, which offers educational resources and assistance to students in Immokalee. The more she visited the area, she fell in love with the community's character.
But as a Naples resident, Tricca was troubled by misinformed comments she was hearing about Immokalee.
“I was talking with an acquaintance saying I was heading up to Immokalee, and he said, ‘why are you going up to Immokalee? It's dangerous!’ And that's when a light bulb kind of went off in my head,” said Tricca.
Immokalee is commonly referred to as a “migrant” or “agricultural” area. Yet, 2020 Census data shows that only about 20% of residents work in a farming-related field.
“This is ultimately me using my artist activism, and it's my means of bridging the disparity between the two vastly juxtaposed regions of coastal Collier County, and Immokalee,” said Tricca.
Immokalee sits just 25 miles east of one of the wealthiest communities in the country, Naples, yet they are both part of the same county. The average annual income earned per person in Naples is $237,000 compared to a $16,000 average in Immokalee, according to the latest Census data.
How is this possible?
Arol Buntzman, chairman and CEO of the Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance, says there’s a major obstacle to overcome in Immokalee.
“Safe, affordable, Hurricane-resistant housing is clearly the missing link for these families to escape from poverty and exploitation," said Buntzman. "And until more of that housing is built, the conditions won’t change.”
Buntzman says families are paying more than half of their limited income to rent overcrowded and virtually unlivable spaces.
“Close to 2,000 farmworker families and other low-income families, it's not just farmworker families, live in overcrowded, dilapidated trailers that are 50-60 years old, or shacks with mold, mildew, and cockroach dust,” said Buntzman.
Buntzman describes Immokalee as a vibrant community, filled with people who are trying to chase the American dream.
“It's not a community where people just came over the border yesterday or last month," said Buntzman. "But families that live here 5,10, 20 years.”
He hopes that “The Face of Immokalee” project will draw attention to the town and lead to better resources being allocated to the area.
“Maybe when they see the people humanized, they'll say, ‘yeah, okay. These people need a decent place to live too,’ and maybe more money will come and help," Buntzman said.
And thanks to Tricca’s partnership with Lipman Family Farms, her portraits will be seen beyond Immokalee.
“The Face of Immokalee” murals are being displayed on two of Lipman Family Farms’ 53-foot semi-trailer trucks that will travel along coastal Collier County and two 50-foot exterior walls of the company’s packing facility on East Main Street.
“We're more than just the farm. We're hard workers. We are family. We're everything that people don't think we are.”Stacey DeJesus, Immokalee resident
On reveal day recently, Tricca cannot believe her eyes as the two semi-trailer trucks roll up to Lipman’s packing facility wrapped in her portraits.
“This is EXACTLY what I had in mind!" she shouted.
Families of those photographed, neighbors, friends, and the curious are drawn in by the commotion and start posing for selfies while marveling at the murals. Strangers strike up friendly conversations about the grandeur of it all and how nice it is to see art displayed publicly in Immokalee.
Stacey DeJesus has a grin from ear to ear as she points out a portrait of her daughter Riley on one of the wall murals.
“I think it's pretty cool that my daughter gets to be one of the faces of Immokalee," said DeJesus. "I felt amazing that other people get to see not just the farmworker part of it, but the faces that are actually going to maybe do something for this community later on in life.”
DeJesus and her family have lived in Immokalee all their lives. They commend Tricca’s murals and the representation they depict. She hopes through this, her hometown will be recognized for what it truly is: a place that values family and hard work.
“We're more than just the farm," said DeJesus. "We're hard workers. We are family. We're everything that people don't think we are.”
“The Face of Immokalee” is a permanent installation built to withstand extreme heat and weather, and can be viewed any time.
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