Influencing Change: DEI at ArtCenter

It's hard to tell when the seasons change in SoCal, but Daylight Saving is something I always notice as the start to spring. Yes, we lose an hour — a difficult blow for our students right around midterms — but we gain an hour of sunlight. Something about this extra hour at the end of the day energizes me to look ahead to new opportunities — I like to call it "spring forward thinking." And I'm sure our creativity community feels the same.?

March also marks Women's History Month, which this year comes on the heels of a major announcement in our own community. As you know, Karen Hofmann has been named President/CEO of ArtCenter, the first woman president in the College’s 90-plus year history.

Karen has long been a champion of DEI initiatives. Of her new role, she shares, "These are unprecedented times ... yet there are silver linings and incredible opportunities to reassess, rethink and rebuild meaningful academic experiences to empower the future generation of creatives who will shape our world. ArtCenter is the ideal institution to do that work."

With that in mind, I'd like to use this space to highlight a few more female-identifying trailblazers who continue to raise the bar.?

A New Field

We've had countless accomplished creatives pass through ArtCenter, but I think it's safe to say Sisley Loubet is the only student who's?performed at the Super Bowl—to the side of Mary J. Blige, no less. The photographer, film student and Alvin Ailey-trained professional dancer shares how she combines and pursues parallel passions.

"As an artist and designer, one of my goals is to engage and communicate with my audience using my cultural heritage, my artistic skills and a multidisciplinary approach. By merging several disciplines of design such as film, photography, dance and architecture, the idea of synthesis, and not of separation, creates a path for innovation. By intertwining diverse forms of expression and cultures with one another, we also aim to recognize the uniqueness of each while challenging the perception of one's identity."

Come Prepared

Of course, with warmer weather comes wildfire in SoCal. Thanks to a prestigious grant from CAL FIRE, our Graphic Design and Designmatters departments are in the middle of a?Transdisciplinary Studio?in partnership with the American Red Cross to create a compelling wildfire awareness campaign that will be rolled out across California. I'm also pleased to share that Designmatters has brought a more community-focused lens, focusing not only on homeowners, which agencies have done in the past, but renters and our unhoused neighbors. I look forward to seeing the results of this incredibly timely, inclusive work.

My Must-Read

Mary Edmonia Lewis, "Wildfire,” was an American sculptor of mixed African American and Native American (Mississauga) heritage; she was also noted to be a lesbian. Born free in Upstate New York, she worked for most of her career in Rome, Italy; her sculptures brought stories to life, including those that had been untold. She was the first African American and Native American sculptor to achieve national and then international prominence, and though she broke through every obstacle, there's still remarkably little known about her. I encourage you to read this?Smithsonian Magazine?piece?to learn more about her journey.

My Must-Listen

On a recent Change Lab podcast, activist +?Marsha P. Johnson Institute?founder Elle Hearns spoke about making the world a better, safer place for Black transgender communities. During the moving conversation, she shares, "Black trans women have been fighting an inequitable battle for so long that equality movements did not make sense as a framework. Even now it’s strange that people equate freedom with equality. Those two are not exclusive. They haven’t even been on a date with each other."

As Transgender Day of Visibility approaches on Thursday, March 31, I encourage you to use the extra light to?listen to all she has to say?about what we need to move forward together.?

Here’s to brighter days ahead.

Aaron I. Bruce, MIBA, Ph.D.

Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer