Art of Diversity Showcase highlights the role of creativity in building just communities

Writing

Paula Davis, associate vice chancellor for diversity, equity and inclusion for the health sciences, won for her short poem, “Untitled.”

What calls me to the ocean?
Is it the peace borne of rhythmic waves,
Or the gems that appear as the sun meets the water?
Perhaps it's the way I am made buoyant,
able to feel my body held by the surface of greatness.
For under the ocean lie two million ancestors
Who never completed the passage.
They call to me.
They hold me

“I'm left feeling a mix of joy and sorrow that sticks with me long after reading it," wrote Jasmine Green, a poet and Center for Creativity assistant who served on the evaluations panel.

51��Ʒ��Ƶ undergraduate writing student M. Kerlan received an honorable mention for their work of fiction, “On Being Full of Spiders.”

Visual art

Indian Vikrant Bhise won the visual category for a work on Babasaheb Ambedkar, who enacted a critical workers’ rights law known as the Mumbai Workers Welfare Art in 1953. “Workers are the behind-the-scenes performers of all big works. Babasaheb gives them their repressed identity with the help of the Indian constitution,” said Bhise of his winning entry “Babasaheb and Labour.”

California artist Theresa Polley-Shellcroft received an honorable mention for the work “Sold.”

5 Laborers covered in pickaxes. One is in a blue suit — Judge Ivy Chou said of “Babasaheb and Labour”: “I love when art tells story and history and lived experiences. Especially in this piece, you can tell that the artist is intentionally political and provoking because they want to intrigue you, to go out of your comfort zone and learn.”

Collage of photos of furniture, vintage photo of young African American man, and documents of the Commonwealth of Virginia — “This piece reflects events in the history of my family, emancipated by the legal will of David Polley,” said Theresa Polley-Shellcroft in her artist statement. “All of their inheritance was sold to pay the debts of the son-in-law. The children were kidnapped and sold into slavery. The legal case was concluded 162 years later in 2012.”

Artwork of bricks and clouds or smoke — Brianna Amoscato dedicated her 33-page mixed media piece “One Day” to “the children of one day/The children who will become/Global changemakers/Abolitionists/Advocates/Peace warriors/And work to make/Our model for humanity/More equitable/More just/And more loving.”

Blue and Red painting — Abby R. Bonilla’s acrylic pouring, “We're Still Here,” is one of many pieces inspired by Canadian fluid artist Kanelle Ciraco.

Performance

Alex Tha Great, a performance/spoken word artist and playwright in Dallas, Texas, won for “T.”

“With fire and grace and anger, she names the horrors, breaks down a world of pain and violence, and rebuilds something beautiful with profound love, all in two and half minutes,” said Erik Schuckers, the Center for Creativity’s communications and programming manager, also served on the evaluations panel.

51��Ʒ��Ƶ senior Dejene Haileselassie won an honorable mention in the performance category for “.”

Interdisciplinary

Ying-Tung (Ivy) Chou, a graduate student in the School of Education who served on the evaluations panels, described Brianna Amoscato’s (EDUC ’14, ’15G) “” (large PDF) as “a picture book, a poem, a visual story.”

“Not only is the visual eye catching, the narratives and words catch your attention as well, and you just can’t stop reading,” she wrote.

People’s Choice Award

51��Ʒ��Ƶ MBA/master of social work student Abby R. Bonilla, who is a fluid/flow artist, won for “We’re Still Here.”

Bonilla said of her work: “The coqui is a small frog and Taino symbol of Boriken. Throughout the island, they make their presence known and in the mountains at night, you hear their song and are lulled to sleep to the soothing music. The Taino symbol has been found in the lands of my ancestors, high in the mountains where our roots run deep, we’re still here.”

— Elizabeth Raffaele

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