Tag Archives: Human Rights

Student opinion: What’s the role of activism and the #blacklivesmatter movement at ArtCenter?

Current student, Kayla Salisbury

Current Illustration student, Kayla Salisbury

The following piece, by Illustration student Kayla Salisbury, emerged out of a dialogue that began in the comments section of ArtCenter’s Instagram page. Kayla sought to connect with other ArtCenter community members around the activist movements calling for policy change on college campuses across the country and around the world. Because ArtCenter can be an intense, focused and sometimes isolating environment, Kayla wasn’t sure where or how to engage her peers in a public dialogue around these issues. So we offered her this space to begin that conversation. Please feel free to use the comments section below to weigh in with your own opinions. And should you need more space to express yourself, we also welcome student submissions from all viewpoints.

I am writing this blog for ArtCenter students, particularly those who don’t spend much time talking to people outside their apartments and classrooms. I feel it is vital to know what is going on in the world. Everything has an effect on us, whether we know it or not. Stereotypes, the media and the current state of America are just three factors that influence us in ways we can’t even measure.

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Students Tackle Human Rights Issues

Images for Human Rights: Student Voices, a provocative exhibition exploring perspectives of Art Center students on the issues of freedom and human rights, is on display at the Skirball Cultural Center. The exhibition features more than a dozen large-scale, illustrated posters created by Art Center students as part of a Designmatters project.

The exhibition was designed in 2008 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in Paris in 1948. The historic document arose out of the tragedies of World War II and is modeled after the United States Constitution.

Images for Human Rights: Student Voices displays fresh interpretations of the declaration’s many principles, encouraging viewers to reflect upon its continuing significance. Taking such declarations as “No one shall be held in slavery or servitude” (Article 4), “No one shall be subjected to torture” (Article 5), or “Everyone has the right to education” (Article 26), the artists were challenged to represent these assertions through visual images. Each poster is accompanied by the text of the article(s) that inspired it, as well as insightful commentary by the student.

The exhibit runs through March 7. Read more about the project at the Desigmatters website.

Images for Human Rights: Student Voices
The Skirball Cultural Center
2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90049

(Pictured: Everybody by Christopher Kosek)