Check it out:

http://quantum.esu.edu/insider/esu-partners-with-community-groups-to-map-places-of-the-heart/

It is with great pleasure that I announce the Stroudsburg Area Map Room Project!

This is an idea that I have had in the works for about a year and half. It is through the good graces of East Stroudsburg University’s Office of Sponsored Projects and Research that I was able to secure funding for the project through an Interdisciplinary Incentive Grant.

The lowdown:
The Stroudsburg Area Map Room Project is inspired by the Office of Creative Research’s St. Louis Map Room Project which was an experiment in collaborative mapping as a source of community engagement. The Stroudsburg Area Map Room Project will engage the ESU community (students, faculty, staff, administrators, and APSCURF retired faculty members) and residents of the area, including thirty diverse organizations, by having selected groups collaborate to create thirty distinct, large-scale maps (10 feet x 10 feet) of the Stroudsburg/East Stroudsburg region and then exhibit them as a traveling exhibition sponsored by ESU.

This process will provide a picture into how different groups interpret their hometown and how their description of the area might be a reflection of their individual and collective interactions within the spaces. Further, it may be possible to uncover whether these experiences are affected by any demographic characteristics (race, generation, ethnicity, gender, income, etc.). These maps will highlight areas of significance and show connection to specific locales; in some instances, routes will be charted, places long since forgotten will be remembered, and areas for future exploration will be revealed. By viewing the maps as a collection, a geography of knowledge will ultimately be produced. Using this geography of knowledge (which directly taps into the psychology of the community), the ESU community will begin to assess how we can better serve the local community and initiate community-based, social innovation/entrepreneurship projects with even more impact in the future. (See Join the Flock). The Stroudsburg Area will be joining the likes of New York’s Lower East Side, Atlanta, and New Orleans as we all undertake similar mapping projects.

I hope to post pics throughout the year as this project progresses.

This project created quite a stir on campus and nationally. It inspired a spur-of-the-moment campus-wide forum to discuss the intent and implications of all of the posters that were installed around campus in unexpected places between Nov. 17, 2017 – Dec. 15, 2017. The honest discussion that ensued (to a standing room only event!) during the forum was refreshing and a credit to our students, faculty, and staff – a truly inspiring event!

Below are some links to the media attention we attracted, feel free to read them. Below that, I included 5 of the over 30 posters contained in the exhibition. The entire series is soon to be housed in the brand new New York City museum dedicated to the art of the poster, the Poster House and, starting Fall 2018 will become a traveling gallery exhibition. This project was so mutli-faceted and created so much controversy and many interesting conversations that it is difficult to relate everything in one blog post, so please explore all links in this blog post.

The Inclusion Poster Project
Inspired by internationally renowned graphic designer, Miro Ilic’s memorable, traveling poster exhibition, the Tolerance Poster Project, originally appearing on the streets of Sarajevo in 2015, ESU’s Inclusion Poster Project is a public art & design exhibition. It intends to communicate the unique perspective of ESU students on the topic of inclusion.

The Inclusion Poster Project original project description.
At any point in your entire lifetime, have you ever felt excluded? Well, you most likely were excluded at some point whether you are consciously aware of it or not. Look around the room. Look to your right and left. Look in front of you and behind you. Your peers have felt the same way at some point in their lives, as well. Why? Is it because of the way they dress? The color of their skin? Their economic background? Their age? Because they commute to school? Because they couldn’t kick a ball hard enough or straight enough on the playground at recess? Is it fair, is it moral, is it even beneficial to your own well-being to judge someone by such arbitrary criteria?
This poster project is intended to access your personal connection to the broader issue of inclusion. How have you been affected by the negative or positive ramifications of diversity, tolerance, and inclusion, especially on ESU’s campus? You must communicate your own, unique perspective and personal relationship to topic of inclusion in the form of a poster.

“Life is all too often not a hallmark card, but rather a life consisting of challenging and opposing sentiments and perspectives in a multicultural landscape.  Honest and respectful dialogue is more and more essential for moving a community forward for the common good – achieving solutions that emanate from a sense of equity and justice, and a willingness to engage in individual and collective introspection to advance the community to a ‘better place.’”                – ESU Provost Joanne Bruno

The above quote is from ESU’s Provost Joanne Bruno. Without her support and inspiration this project would never have happened and been as rich of an educational experience for my students.

Poster Project Sparks Controversy Across University

University, Professor Respond to Poster Debate

Academic Freedom is Not Black and White

And then, two less reputable news outlets:

Campus ‘Inclusivity Posters’ Feature Trump Ignoring Dying Puerto Rican Child

College’s ‘Inclusion Project’ Features Poster of Trump Next to Dead Child

  FIRST PLACE WINNER – Chelsea Bacon
(poster winners were selected by ESU’s Inclusion & Diversity Committee)
This poster was installed in main staircase of the student center.

SECOND PLACE WINNER – Danielle Nightlinger
This poster was installed at the top of the main stairwell in DeNike Hall.

THIRD PLACE WINNER – Sage Kane
This poster was installed atop the main entrance of Dansbury Commons (Dining Hall).

Alyssa Gonzalez
This poster generated the most controversy overall.

Designer chooses to remain anonymous
This poster generated the second most amount of controversy. In fact, it was the only poster to be defaced. It was torn down two days after it was installed and then reinstalled (at a more unreachable height) where it remained until the end of the exhibition.

“SITE encompasses multiple cross-disciplinary spaces that consolidates the efforts of all ESU constituents to make scholarship, innovation, teaching, application of new technology, and entrepreneurship easier, more efficient, and cost-effective.

SITE’s main mission is to harness the power of collaboration and creativity in a concerted effort to facilitate all campus initiatives, big and small.”

Realizing that specialization will no longer pave the path to the future, SITE hopes to establish precedents for cross-disciplinary knowledge and experiences; something our students will need to survive in the future.

Here are some of my designs from the recently launched SITE branding campaign. The GIF animation is a collaboration between myself, Luis Vidal, and ESU Art + Design student Matthew Jimenez.

First, I would like to show some pictures from my most recent solo exhibition, “With great power. . .” at the AFA Gallery in Scranton, PA. All photo credits: Ed Mazure (thanks, Dad!)