Two New Murals Spark Conversations on Representation

The School of Art and Design is creating murals in between their Art North and Art South Buildings. The newest two murals are led by Sabrina Davidson, studio art senior, and alumna Avia Ramm Studio Arts ‘20, and support the school’s new diversity and inclusion initiative.

The ideas for these murals began when Davidson submitted a proposal to Annie Buckley, Director of the School of Art and Design, and felt that the school needed visual representation for artists of color.

“We rarely see people of color represented in arts curriculum (especially women of color) and I wanted to change that,” said Davidson. “It’s nice that the school took us seriously when we wanted to say something through our murals, I really appreciate them listening and I hope that will happen in other departments as well.”

Davidson’s mural is about Bhavna Mehta, a female Indian American immigrant and disabled San Diego artist specializing in paper and social practice art and Augusta Savage, a female Black artist from the Harlem Renaissance who was a sculptor and a civil rights advocate working to train Black people in the arts. The mural is meant to give flowers to contemporary artists inspiring the next generation who will participate in art that brings communities together, while also acknowledging historical persons of color who have helped to change the world of art and design.

“We as art students need to see that ideas come forth from dreams,” said Davidson. “When you have the technique to convey your ideas, it then takes bravery to actually do the work and the artists in my mural were incredibly brave in pursuing their dreams.”

Ramm’s collaborative mural calls attention to the recent Black Lives Matter movement protests. Ramm feels that even though the protests might not be getting as much media coverage now, they are still important and cannot be ignored.

Ramm’s mural also pays homage to the movements from the ‘90s, ‘60s, and abolitionists like Frederick Douglas.

“I’m excited for it to start a dialogue. People can’t forget Black lives will always matter, so our hope is it reminds people to keep educating themselves and to read about Black history,” Ramm said.

Ramm is also working with artists Amel Janae, Bilal Mohammad and Alec Corbitt.

These murals are part of the School of Art + Design’s ongoing project over the past year to improve its facilities and bring more student and faculty art onto the walls and into the corridors.

The two new murals are integrated with the new school of Art and Design Diversity and Inclusion Initiative, a series of actions and upcoming projects to ensure equal opportunities and representation to all students and to ensure that a diversity of artists, designers, and scholars are represented across the curriculum.

“We are seeking for all courses to include artists, designers, and scholars from diverse backgrounds and co-creating a resource for everyone to draw from to make that content readily accessible,” said Annie Buckley, Director of the school.

Art and Design will also launch a speaker series bringing in artists of color and others addressing the work of art and design in the realm of social justice and is working on an outreach plan for local schools to have art workshops and tours of SDSU.

To stay up to date with the upcoming activities, speaker series, and the finished murals, follow the School of Art and Design on Instagram at @sdsu_art and Facebook at @SDSUSAD.

The content within this article has been edited by Lizbeth Persons.