Interdisciplinary Student Arts Exhibit “Imagining Home” Launches

On April 16, SF State launched the interdisciplinary student arts exhibit “Imagining Home,” a showcase of thoughtful and timely undergraduate and graduate student stories of home. The Creative Arts Affinity Group, a team of six SF State faculty members across five different University departments, first met during Fall 2019 to discuss the possibilities of a pedagogical and creative collaboration to uplift student artwork. With support from an Extraordinary Ideas Grant from the College of Liberal & Creative Arts, faculty members collaborated on curricular design and exhibit curation to support artistic and social-justice centered practices.

“The exhibit asks students to think about and express, in the language of their own art practice, one of the most urgent questions of the 21st century: what constitutes home?” said Assistant Professor of Communications Studies Colleen Daniher.

“Imagining Home” was originally intended to be presented on campus in Spring 2020 with a corresponding live exhibit in a community gallery in the Bay Area. The student artists boldly address many topics, including immigrant experiences, motherhood and anti-Asian discrimination. Despite tremendous hardship and uncertainty during the pandemic, students crafted reflective and creative artworks that offer windows into individual experiences during the past year and a half.

“I think it’s incredibly important for us to listen to stories of people who don’t necessarily get prioritized in dominant narratives of media and academia,” said Assistant Professor of Broadcast & Electronic Communication Arts Shabnam Piryaei.

The exhibit can be viewed publicly on the “Imagining Home” website. It includes words from students in the School of Theatre & Dance, the School of Cinema, the School of Humanities & Liberal Studies, the Department of Broadcast & Electronic Communication Arts, and the Department of Communication Studies.