团结壁画共同纪念大学社区
Graphic Design Communication students spearhead the creation of a mural aiming to unite student body and celebrate campus diversity.
BRISTOL, R.I. – With contributions from numerous student clubs in its design and creation, a Unity Mural emerged from the minds and hands of many creators across the university community at the end of the spring semester.
这是一个历时一年的合作项目, 由丹妮尔·艾曼斯领导, 平面设计传播学助理教授, 还有24岁的克里斯汀·哈罗德, 平面设计专业，传播学专业 & 马萨诸塞州陶顿市辅修媒体研究专业., bolstered by students from the Graphic Design Communication program. Their inspiration was drawn from the university’s Racism Stops With Me campaign as a launchpad to a collaborative project, uniting students from various backgrounds in representing the diversity and inclusivity of Roger Williams University.
Working on this mural empowered the design students to “put theory into practice,” Emans said. “You want to hear and work with and learn from community members before you go into active design,埃曼斯解释道。. She tasked her students to take concepts and ideas and bring them to life through collaboration with the community it would represent, truly getting to know the people they are working with beyond the design itself.
有了这个目标, the graphic design students each collaborated with a club – the Multicultural Student Union, 西班牙裔和拉丁裔学生协会, 有色人种女性俱乐部, 理发店俱乐部, 节奏与根文化舞蹈俱乐部, 亚裔美国人联盟, Hillel, 以及校园性与性别联盟, getting their input and working their ideas into various designs, 后来合并成一个更大的壁画概念.
经过一年的头脑风暴和设计, the mural was ready to be painted during the Student Academic Showcase and Honors in April. The Graphic Design Communication students gathered their collaborators and set up an artist’s space to create the Unity Mural out on the quad, 所有的学生, faculty, and staff were invited to add their own unique contributions to the piece. The 施工管理 Club helped build the four panels that make up a 16-foot-by-6-foot canvas on which the mural was painted and displayed.
“我们进入这个领域的目的是设计 with 来自康涅狄格州托马斯顿的23岁的亚历山德拉·霍尔(Alexandra Houle)说., who plans to pursue advocacy work through the medium of graphic design.
在这样一个项目中, “you have to be conscious of everyone’s perspectives and backgrounds,哈罗德补充道, 谁打算攻读平面设计硕士学位.
“We wanted to bring everybody together to celebrate the work,” said Emans. “To be part of it and actually visualize, through action, what unity can look like.”
在大学社区之外, Emans also had the students collaborate with an international creative, Stefan Messam, an illustrator and designer and faculty member at Zayed University in Dubai, 阿拉伯联合酋长国, 谁擅长大型壁画设计. Messam分享想法, 鼓励, 灵感来自于他自己的工作和经历, 帮助RWU的学生梦想和磨练他们的设计.
The students said that the mural represents the group’s desire for a unified campus and world.
“For me, it represents coexisting with other people in as positive a way as you can,当时还是大三学生的Sherisa Smith说, 平面设计传播专业，美国手语专业, 摄影, 还有来自东哈特福德的中国三小调音乐, Conn. 这幅壁画是为了让人们团结起来, 无论是在行动上还是在表现上, 并激励人们相互联系, 同时也庆祝RWU学生群体的多样性, she said.
在完成并在SASH期间显示之后, 这幅壁画被安置在全球遗产大厅, Room G12 – one of the graphic design labs on campus – in an effort to transform the space and display the hard work of students in the program.
“我们都非常关心这件事. 把壁画之类的东西留在这里, 并可能在未来激励人们, well, 我认为这很特别,霍尔说。.
The student team emphasized that this mural does not represent the end of working toward unity and inclusion. They hope that the university community will sit with the design and allow it to impact and inspire them – not just creatively, but also in their interactions with the people they come across throughout their lives. 他们传递的信息是，“总有更多的工作要做”, 让更多的声音被听到，被包容.”