Arts and Architecture Students Help Raise Hunger Awareness
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Students
in graphic design professor Kristin Breslin Sommese’s
Art 371—Applied Communications course created posters addressing regional
and worldwide hunger that were featured during several Penn State World Hunger
Week events in October 2003.
On October 13, they were showcased during the inaugural “Café Hunger,” an outreach education event and meal to raise hunger awareness that was organized in part by the Arts and Health Outreach Initiative (AHOI). On October 16, selected posters served as backdrop during the internationally broadcast United Nations World Food Day Teleconference. In addition, George McGovern, 22-year U.S. Congressman, 1972 Democratic presidential nominee and first United Nations Global Ambassador on Hunger, viewed the posters during his Penn State visit to speak about ending hunger. McGovern described the posters as “powerful” and said he was pleased to see Penn State students addressing such an important issue facing the world today. The posters are now permanently displayed on the third floor of the HUB-Robeson Center.
AHOI linked Sommese and her students with the College of Agricultural Sciences International Programs Office, which is the leader in organizing Penn State’s annual World Hunger Week events. The students attended a presentation by World Hunger Week/World Food Day Chair Marilyn McPheron and undertook further research on hunger in order to create their posters.
In addition to the graphic design students’ poster display at Café Hunger, the event featured presentations by others in the College of Arts and Architecture. The Essence of Joy choral ensemble sang, while theatre students participated in an improvisational performance on hunger issues. According to AHOI Coordinator Ermyn King, AHOI helped to initiate a successful collaboration. “By bringing arts and multidisciplinary content expertise on hunger together, AHOI has contributed to the development of a creative outreach scholarship model involving diverse University and community partners, which targets complex issues affecting health.”
The posters will be showcased again during this fall’s Café Hunger, scheduled for October 11. Plans are also underway for posters by Jonathan Pelky, Kelly Eng and Jason Puza to be reproduced for use on campus and by local food banks.
Sommese says she wanted to help raise awareness of hunger issues and show her students the potential impact of graphic design. “The intent of engaging my students in the issue of world and regional hunger was to stimulate activism concerning the issue on campus and in the community, and hopefully reach beyond to a national and international audience. Another intent of the project was to instill in the students a sense of social responsibility and to show them that they have the ability to use their design communication skills in a very positive way.”
To view all the students’ posters, visit www.cas.psu.edu/docs/international.
