CREATIVE
ACTIVISM
The theme of the 2020-2021 academic year was creative activism. This theme was selected as a means of introducing the Creative Citizens in Action initiative to the CCA community, and to support democratic engagement efforts related to the 2020 U.S. General Election.
“Trash Can.” Artwork by Kevin Balaun, Georgia State.
CAMPUS ACTIVATION
Artwork Campaign
The CCA@CCA Artwork Campaign featured more than 80 artwork and poster designs by 66 CCA students, faculty, staff, and alumni who responded to an open call for imagery that encourages voting and civic engagement. The goal of the campaign was to galvanize members of the extended CCA community to participate in creative activism in the lead-up to Election Day in November 2020 and beyond.
The CCA@CCA Artwork Campaign was on view throughout fall 2020 in a walk-by exhibition at the CCA Hubbell Street Galleries.
Sam Vernon, courtesy of YBCA.
FACULTY COORDINATOR
Sam Vernon
The fall 2020 CCA@CCA Faculty Coordinator was Sam Vernon, Assistant Professor, Printmedia Program. Sam is a visual artist who earned her MFA in painting and printmaking from Yale University. Her installations combine Xeroxed drawings, photographs, paintings, and sculptural components in an exploration of personal narrative and identity. Her work has been featured in recent solo exhibitions at San Francisco’s Museum of the African Diaspora; UT Downtown Gallery, Knoxville, Tennessee; G44 Centre for Contemporary Photography, Toronto; and Seattle Art Museum, Olympic Sculpture Park.
STUDENT FELLOW
Menaja Ganesh
Menaja Ganesh (BFA Graphic Design 2021) is a Tamil artist from Bengal who received their BFA in Graphic Design from California College of the Arts. Their creative practice fully engages the body and space through printmaking, spacial installation, and performance. Their work lies at the intersections between language and presentation, queerness and femininity, familiarity and loss.
CURRICULUM CONNECTION
Voting Story
During the fall 2020 semester, students from CCA and Georgia State University engaged in an exchange where they conducted interviews about their voting experiences and produced photographs in response to the prompt "What is your voting story?" The project resulted in a digital exhibition hosted by CCA's libraries and postcards sent to registered voters in collaboration with the Sister District Project. The exchange culminated in a live virtual dialogue moderated by CCA alum Chanell Stone, presented by San Francisco Camerawork, where students discovered shared political and artistic strategies—especially meaningful in the lead-up to an election where youth votes proved critical and Georgia experienced a “blue shift.”
Bad Side of Town
Nia Hemmitt, Georgia State
Access Denied
Tyler Brantley, Georgia State
Mami, Papi, y Yo Votando
Elaine Moreno, CCA
Dissonance
Jason Brawdy, CCA
SPOTLIGHTED PROJECT
Second Helping
During the summer protests of 2020, community-focused efforts and mutual aid saw a significant increase. To acknowledge and celebrate this work after an intense election cycle, Sam Vernon and Menaja Ganesh organized Second Helping: CCA@CCA Post-Election Town Hall. The virtual town hall, held on November 16, 2020, featured community activists and artists including Jocelyn Jackson, Conrad Guevara, Larissa Gilbert, and Lexa Walsh, who shared impactful initiatives such as distributing “Beloved Community Bags” to unhoused people, setting up “free fridges,” cultivating food for families in need, and raising funds for social justice causes through soup sales.