Since the year 2000, we have been assembling a museum-quality collection of cultural artifacts.  The items we acquire have seen actual use in Lao, Hmong, Khamu, Akha and other ethnic communities throughout Laos.  Accompanying each artifact are photographs documenting the context in which the item is used within family or community life.

The collection is an important element within our exhibit, “From Laos to America: Changing Worlds, Changing Lives”.  We are currently collecting oral histories from elderly refugees in which individuals are asked to discuss the significance of various artifacts with an emphasis on ethnic heritage and personal life experience.