Introduction: The diversity and mobility of immigrant arts

Over the past three decades, the dramatic rise in immigration from Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean has greatly expanded the palette of cultural practices and styles to which people in the United States have access. Once considered exotic, the foods of Japan, India, and Mexico have become as American as the hamburger. Salsa music and reggae are now as familiar in many parts of the United States as they are in the Dominican Republic or Jamaica. And even as immigrants are changing mainstream tastes, the nation is altering the artistic expressions of immigrants. Hip-hop music and graffiti art now join secondgeneration Cuban, Arab, Mexican, and Vietnamese youngsters in places as near and far away as Brooklyn, Miami, Chicago, and San Diego. Immigration and art have thus become key elements to understanding life, culture, and creativity in contemporary America.