Media Campaign: Impact 90/300
Client: Center for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, ArtCenter College of Design
Title: “Impact 90/300"
Goal: Celebrate African American alumni across ArtCenter’s 90 years
The Center for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (ArtCenter DEI) advocates for and maintains an inclusive and equitable climate across all aspects of life at ArtCenter College of Design.
In commemoration of ArtCenter’s 90th anniversary, ArtCenterDEI, in partnership with ArtCenter DTLA, presented a series of exhibitions and programs honoring the achievements of the College’s Black alumni. The Center commissioned a short documentary from ArtCenter alumna Elizabeth Gray Bayne that was intended to both critique the low enrollment numbers for Black students while also celebrating the 300 Black alumni who had graced the halls of the prestigious design school.
Solution: 25 alumni across multiple disciplines and generations were scheduled to sit for an interview with Bayne and a portrait with alumnus Everard Williams at the school’s campus over a single weekend. A crew largely consisting of ArtCenter students helped to document the stories of various alumni, including Emerson Terry, a World War II veteran and commercial illustrator who broke into the advertising industry in the 1950s, trailblazer photographer Barbara DuMetz whose portraits graced the covers of Black Enterprise, Ebony, Essence, and Jet magazine during her 35-year career, and celebrated fine artist and provocateur Devin Troy Strother whose, according to Parrish Art Museum, “paper doll and children’s storybook–style imagery allows him to broach loaded subjects, like blood, money, and sex—or race, class, and gender” in humorous and thought-provoking ways. These interviews were edited into one 10-minute short documentary, as well as 20+ vignettes which shed light on the personal experiences of each alumni during their time at ArtCenter. The exhibit was digitized in order to promote careers in art and design with educational institutions across the U.S.