Volume 3, Number 2, "Human Rights, Social Justice, and the Impact of Race"
"Equality is Freedom”
© Ani Gevorgian
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."
Article 1, Universal Declaration of Human Rights

In continuing partnership with the United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI), Designmatters and the Department of Illustration at Art Center College of Design led a transdisciplinary studio in Summer 2008 on the topic of human rights to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The cover image, “Equality is Freedom,” was created in this studio and displayed at the annual UN DPI/Non-Governmental Organization conference at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) headquarters in Paris from September 3-5, 2008, along with several other images also created for the project.

Artist’s statement:
“I am a woman and I have lived in the Middle East for quite a while. I have witnessed gender inequality there, as well as in the U.S. This poster depicts two hands, one male and one female, that together create a bird with equal wings, letting it fly freely.”

Volume 3, Number 1, "Race and the Global Politics of Health Inequity"
"The Fly is as Deadly as a Bomber!”
© Reproduced from the Collections of the LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
The editors chose this image because nothing says “public health” like a Works Progress Administration (WPA) poster. The dirt-shedding fly coming in low over an urban cityscape is as much of a threat to a concentrated population as an enemy aerial attack.

The Works Progress Administration, more popularly known as the Works Projects Administration, was established in 1935 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt as part of his New Deal program in a response to the emergent crisis of the Great Depression. In July of 1935, Federal Project Number One was established within the WPA as a central administration for arts-related projects and provided support to more than five thousand artists, musicians, actors, and writers.
Initially painted and lettered individually, WPA posters were striking and beautiful, designed to publicize health and safety programs; cultural programs including art exhibitions, theatrical, and musical performances; travel and tourism; educational programs; and community activities in seventeen states and the District of Columbia. Later, artists and designers utilized silk-screening, lithographs and woodcuts to mass produce WPA posters across the nation.

© Samella Lewis

Volume 2, Number 2, "Race and Secondary Education: Content, Contexts, Impacts," features "The Barrier" by Samella Lewis. Pioneering artist and art historian Samella Lewis is renowned for her contributions to African American art and art history. She was born on February 27, 1924, in New Orleans, Louisiana, and her heritage led her to view art as an essential expression of the community and its struggles. Currently Dr. Lewis is Professor Emerita of art history at Scripps College of the Claremont Colleges.

© Maurice Scott

"We the unseen and unheard artists have been given wings that will lift us beyond these walls."
- Maurice Scott

Volume 2, Number 1, "The Dynamics of Race and Incarceration," features "Untitled" by Maurice Scott. Maurice was a participating artist in PCAP (Prison Creative Arts Project) through the University of Michigan.

He presently resides in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and is planning to pursue a degree in fine arts as well as continue his career as an artist. The mission of the Prison Creative Arts Project (PCAP) is to collaborate with incarcerated youth and adults, urban youth, and the formerly incarcerated to strengthen the community through creative expression. For more information about the PCAP visit their website at www.prisonarts.org.

© Aminah Brenda Robinson

Volume 1, Number 2, “Race and Coalition,” features a detail from Aminah Robinson’s mixed-media project “One Day in 1307: King Abubakari II.” Robinson is a nationally celebrated, Columbus-based artist who received the MacArthur Foundation Award in 2004. More of her work can be seen at http://columbusmuseum.org/exhibitions/aminah.php.

© 2005 Lydia Nakashima Degarrod

Volume 1, Number 1, “Transnational Migration, Race, and Citizenship,” features “Urban Voyagers: Seekers 4,” the work of Lydia Nakashima Degarrod. Degarrod is a Chilean artist who has been sponsored by the Chilean ministry of culture and was recently invited to participate in the prestigious Eranos Institute in Switzerland. Her work and artist’s statement can be viewed at www.lydianakashimadegarrod.com.