What happens when you give Academy High students thirteen weeks to complete a project of their own design about race, class, or mental health? You get the Humanities Showcase! The night of December 11, 2020, Dr. Brown hosted a virtual showcase for every student in his Humanities Studio class to present their projects. Here is junior, Shayla Brown's perspective on the class and her journey to make her collection of political cartoons and portraits.
“Train of Thought” is a collection of three political cartoons, seven portraits, one non-objective doodle, and a cup that were all designed by Shayla Brown to demonstrate the humanity of every person despite outward appearance or inward struggles. Here’s a peek into the process behind these works and their intended meanings.
"Fear is No Excuse"
The first political cartoon in Shayla's collection depicts a child and a police officer who are both standing over the dead body of the child's mother. This piece showcases the fear that many have of other races in the stark, un-censored style of a political cartoon. While this cartoon is motivated by outrage over police brutality, the message Shayla wants viewers to take away is that we should be understanding of different races rather than fearful, because change happens when we conquer fear.
"The Climb of Mental Illness"
Next in the collection, Shayla touches on the stigma of people with mental illnesses. The image of two police officers who have just killed a person who was mentally ill because they were fearful, represents how people with mental health issues are not seen as people in need of help. Instead, their mental state is seen as dangerous and assumptions are often made about their intentions and their worth in society.
"The Invisible Poor"
Shayla's final political cartoon and the centerpiece of this collection depicts an impoverished family as they are treated in our society: invisible. The image that Shayla creates is meant to spark self reflection among viewers and plant the idea that we are less understanding of people in poverty than we should be.
The Portraits and a Non-Objective Doodle
With these portraits, Shayla wanted to depict how, with a few simple details, we can tell a lot about a person and where they're from. Often, false assumptions are made about people at a first glance due to their appearance alone. In these portraits, Shayla depicts the beauty of diversity and how we're all human in the end. Pictured on the right, the non-objective doodle is a visual portrayal of mental illness. This doodle was made "without thinking too much about it" as Shayla wanted to truly show the scattered thoughts and feelings of someone struggling with mental illness.
The Cup
The final piece of this collection is this cup that was designed to spread awareness about children in poverty. Created a few years ago when Shayla was in middle school, she thought that this would be the cherry on top to her collection as the only 3-D piece amongst the rest.
The Interview
Q) You began your project thirteen weeks ago, how would you say that your final product has evolved from your initial idea? What was this process like?
I knew from the start that I wanted to draw political cartoons so I began practicing illustration styles used in other political cartoons from a variety of artists. It took the longest to actually come up with original ideas for the cartoons, but as I practiced the ideas came rather organically. Of my final cartoons, my favorite is "The Invisible Poor'' because, as the centerpiece, it took the most time and effort. I also knew early on that I wanted to do portraits as well and practiced those with brush pens. From there, I added onto my collection with the non-objective doodle and the cup which made it feel more whole.
Q) How long have you been interested in visual art and are there other artforms you have/would like to work with?
I have been taking visual arts classes since early elementary school, even outside of school. First, I was most comfortable with sketching and drawing 2-D art but an art class I took in middle school also sparked my interest in painting as well. Now, I mainly work in the art forms that I presented in this collection.
Q) If given the opportunity to make one more piece for your collection, what would it be?
I would like to add another portrait to my collection given the chance. This one, however, would be done with acrylic paints and I would focus more on the details because this is a style I haven't showcased in my project. In terms of theme, I wish that I could have included something that represents class a bit more clearly. For example, I could depict this with a political cartoon of a person standing in front of a farm or a trailer park and comparing this lifestyle to someone standing in front of a mansion.
Q) From which life experiences did you draw inspiration from for this project?
Both of my parents run a non-profit organization called A Place to Stand which I have volunteered with for most of my life. My experiences helping those in need led me to see life from a variety of perspectives. From a young age, I have been able to see how people are treated differently based on factors they cannot control and this is where the message of my project is derived.
Shayla and other students have all worked hard to produce quality, thought-provoking work. The Humanities Showcase was a huge success in terms of turn out and was very enjoyable to see the many creative ways students chose to express their outlook on race, class, and mental health. Art forms used ranged from dance, music, visual art, and music making it for a very dynamic night of intellectual fun!
