In response to the human rights crisis currently unfolding at our southern border, artist Mia Toledo has carefully catalogued the details of the entire 2,000-mile border. From the Gulf of Mexico, which becomes the Rio Grande for the entirety of Texas, the border suddenly changes to an inorganic line that cuts straight through New Mexico and Arizona desert, becoming Mexicali and Tijuana until it suddenly ends several yards into the Pacific Ocean. Using a scale of 6 miles per one foot, participants can follow 48 custom painted panels through marshlands, mountains, national parks, rivers, and deserts, all while passing erratic blips of wall. Separated: Border Wall Witness catalogs not only the intermittent government barriers but also the harsh natural obstacles that make the journey life-threatening.

In a first-of-its kind exhibit, the art is embedded in two blocks of sidewalk scaffolding in front of the historic Riverside Church. The exhibit lives outside of a protected space, exposed to weather and the elements — its condition is decided by fate.

The long mural encourages those who are far from the border’s brutal day-to-day realities to reflect, find strength and demand action in response to inhumane conditions. Participants write messages on tags that are hung from “witness ribbons,” which grow in number on the scaffolding as more tags are collected. More than a thousand messages are now a part of the ever-growing exhibit.