Supporting Students through Uncertain Times

Minneapolis Printmaker was created in response to a time of turmoil in Minneapolis, as over 3,000 ICE agents were deployed to Minnesota during the height of Operation Metro Surge. I witnessed firsthand the cruelty, incompetence, and fear that it instilled in the lives of my friends and communities. The one bright spot was that rather than drawing people into solitude, it got people active in community efforts, participating in protests, organizing food drives, making art, and spending lots of time with my classmates.

It was so easy to be inspired by the resiliency and outpouring of love that everyone around me demonstrated. It is from this movement that Minneapolis Printmaker was born; this typeface represents the community of Minneapolis that I have grown to love so dearly. The typeface draws on aesthetics from hand-rendered typography seen in protest posters, local music posters, printmaking, and more. The concept of the spiral became foundational as not only a symbol of whimsy and warmth, but also growth and interconnectedness. Having the letters interact and intertwine automatically was essential to the concept as a way to represent the ways that people interact and work together to form movements larger than themselves. As the letters interlock, new shapes and textures come together.

For my senior thesis, I explored what design does in and for a community. After working in retail for more than six years, I’ve seen how design is often created for a specific audience, but I wanted to create something that was made by the community and for the community. Last semester, as someone personally affected by what our neighborhood was experiencing, I felt it was important to speak from my own lived experience as a Mexican Indigenous person. At MCAD, on social media, and throughout my life, I’ve learned that our existence has always been political. During one of the hardest times, our campus grew closer than I had ever seen it before, and people truly showed up for one another. Those acts of care and solidarity gave me strength. I hope to continue my education through a master’s program in business, marketing, or business analytics, and one day open a café and gallery space dedicated to uplifting BIPOC artists. MCAD will always hold a special place in my heart and soul, and I will forever be grateful for everything and everyone who helped me become the creative person I am today.

My senior thesis honors my Filipino-American heritage through performance and moving image. Sumayaw Tayo is an immersive, multidisciplinary installation investigating folk dances in the Philippines, using dance as a form of cultural repertoire. The theme within this piece is an attempt to reconnect after years of displacement and the process of assimilation.

In my final semester of MCAD, I watched the school become a terrain of political violence. It was terrifying seeing the streets of Minneapolis filled with tear gas and federal agents. I found community through fellow MCAD artists and neighbors as we protected each other through this difficult time. I found hope when I saw mutual-aid events, protests, and donation drives for displaced families and friends.

What does the community need now, and what will it need moving forward?