Building a Portfolio of Hope: Mining her own life for inspiration, Erika Hirugami is turning a spotlight on the beautiful art of undocumented creatives. She’s also changing their lives.

Sitting in the courtyard of her graduate student housing on Weyburn Terrace, Erika Hirugami ’14, M.A. ’22 is telling the story of what led her to pursue multiple degrees in art history, art business, Chicana/o studies and Mexican studies, and to form two organizations expressly for creative immigrants — all while still a student.