ART + POLITICS: RELIEF CLASS Fall 2018 ASSIGNMENT Students enrolled in Relief Printmaking ART 3443C and ART4445C develop a large-scale woodblock to print during Blocktoberfest, a yearly collaboration with FSCJ. Students learn how to discuss current issues, sometimes not agreeing with each other but always respecting one another. During approximately eight weeks, students work on: • Choosing a current theme that they are passionate about. • Writing a manifesto, a call to action, to a contemporary issue that needs to change. • Developing sketches and a graphic narrative. • Transferring drawings and carve imagery on a 4ft by 8 ft MDS woodblock One day before Blocktoberfest, students load the large blocks on a rental truck and transport them to FSJC. Students are responsible to: • Inking the woodblocks with a heavy coat of ink before the actual printing day • Arriving early to the Blocktoberfest event to set up stations • Organizing inking crew (dirty hands) and printing crew (clean hands). • Working collaboratively with peers from both institutions. • Cleaning up at the end of the day. • Document the event and professionally document their final print. This collaborative event allows our students to work with each other and students from another institution. They learn about how powerful collaborations are and how artists must work as a community to thrive.

ART + POLITICS: RELIEF CLASS Fall 2018 Participating Students Zoe Bell Darrion Cisero Samantha Dallett Alison Fernandez Caitlin Halbing Janell Halbing Monica Hervas Amanda Martinez Blakeley Miller Jennifer Peek Abigail Santos Zachary Toth Kendall Wilson

ART + POLITICS: Final Prints and Manifestos

Fluttering into the Astral 
 Zoe Bell DARKNESS INTO LIGHT Our world’s geopolitical landscape is forever changing. Fear and manipulation are its brushstrokes that paint a false pursuit of happiness. In the darkness below, evil manifest in order to gain control and enslave all until one individual begins to shed their wings. Light emerges, a new form of being. LIGHT INTO LIFE The one individual lets go of the darkness within: anguish, remorse, and sorrow. Now One’s heart as light as a feather and is also prepared for the strife against evil. One’s light is not only a celestial life-force; it is a divine weapon that assassinate evil where it slithers. Life will prevail. LIFE INTO THE ASTRAL One’s path has brought about seeking consciousness elevation. In the mind, body, and sprit one can create and manifest a brighter future though divine orchestration. With one’s mind, we manifest our hands together to protect our world. We inquire for knowledge of the unknown. We go forth on our newfound wings of sovereignty and flutter into the Astral.

Land of the Free Darrion Cisero Land of the free
 Home of the brave
 Let me tell you I’m breaking these chains
 They try to whip on me like I am a slave
 Let me tell you that I’m breaking these chains 
 Oppression is pressing the panic button
 I been trying to take a stand for something
 Yet all they wanna do is take from me
 It’s funny how a drug dealer or a group of figures get more time than a rapist or a pedophile
 If you black and commit a crime you might end up locked up for a while
 Cuz all you is is a figure
 How you figure
 You can do what you want
 They equipped with guns to enforce that their agenda is done
 The Policy from the politicians enforced by the policemen
 And they tell me be polite
 Maybe when you can look at me once when I’m walking thru the parking lot and not beep your alarm twice
 The ink in my flesh is not gang representation
 My locs don’t hang for affiliation
 A record ain’t me nor is statistics
 My heart goes out for women
 They say think like a man
 Cuz many homes are menless
 They cursed the race cuz of the high demand of figures in prison
 Speaking of race
 Who’s in first place
 What is my place
 What is my fate
 Can I escape the hate
 Is there hope for the freedom on another day
 Could my character be given a chance before you judge my face
 It’s still hard being a black man in this time and day
 Unarmed and innocent sacrificed for a taste of the pie
 If you pay attention to the time we spend you’d know freedom ain’t free
 Slavery still clinks I wanna hear the Liberty Bell ring a song that I can sing
 I know why Colin Kappernick took a knee
 Sacrifices the Blood sweat and tears for profit
 American dream built up from nightmares and broken promises
 It’s my right to start a revolution
 I got oppression hitting the panic button
 
 This the land of the free
 Home of the brave
 Let me tell you I’m breaking these chains
 They try to whip on me like I Am a slave
 Let me tell you that I’m breaking these chains

We Are Not Your Victims Samantha Dallett You can hold us down. You can break us. You can scare us. But you can never stop us. And as you work to silence our truths, we will scream them from the roof tops. And as you work to convince our audiences to hear nothing but hate and aggression, we will step forward in a loud uproar of love and support. As women, we need to band together to fight the normalities within our media, vocabulary, and culture. As women, we need to hear the stories of our neighbors… …and as a society, we need respond; with open ears, minds and hearts. The more that we tolerate and the more we let get swept under the rug, the more my body fills with anger. Each testimony, each exposed and broken woman, as well as my own experiences, once was what kept me silent; now is what gives me strength. The men we have spent centuries up lifting, applauding, and supporting are too the men responsible for the normalized culture women have fought against for years --- but this societal norm, is this all we deserve? These stages of infancy, the rebirth within a union of women no longer tolerating the act of children, now lifts the spirits of those who once were victims; who once felt nothing more than the pressure of a manly society, the weight of double standards, and the heaviness of his body on top of your own. This rebirth of women who no longer will be kept quiet. Centuries of women reliving horror, experiencing publicized exposure, and living through humiliation, all have amounted to sea of diverse women taking a stand for their equality, justice, and voice. Who are you to keep us silent?

The Veiled Morena Alison Fernandez The Philippines is one of the many countries profoundly affected by colorism. We are taught to be proud of our ethnicity but not the skin color that comes with it. Those with fair skin and Eurocentric features are seen as beautiful, while those with dark skin are seen as ugly. Those with dark skin are portrayed as poor, working folk, while those with fair skin are portrayed as being wealthy enough to “stay inside”. This is the result of hundreds of years of colonialism. Whitening your skin became socially acceptable, creating a multi-billion-dollar industry filled with ads of light-skinned celebrities saying whiter is better, promoting whitening creams, soaps, lotions, capsules, and even injections. Even growing up in America, we are conditioned at a young age that brownness is ugly, with our parents and relatives saying “don’t stay outside too long”. We grow up watching Filipino television without the accurate representation of our people. The shame that came with being brown caused us to hide behind this veil of whiteness. TO EVERYONE: • Analyze the ways we build hierarchies rooted from discrimination and abolish them. • Question and open dialogue about normalized issues that are often overlooked. TO THOSE OF DARK SKIN: • Recognize the harmful embedded messages you have learned about your brownness and fight them. • Redefine the whitewashed standards of beauty. • Love the skin you are in. NAPAKAGANDA MO. (You are beautiful.) #MagandangMorenx

Overconsumption Caitlin Helbing The cycle of food goes from farm to table, to dump. The consequences and impacts of that cycle of waste were not something I chose to comprehend. The attitude of everyone in America needs to change. We often buy more food than we need, living a life of excess and waste. The hungry stays hungry in this scenario, even when there is an oversupply of meat and dairy. • WE NEED to reduce the global per capita of meat consumption to less than 37 pounds per person. • WE MUST support meat alternatives, both plant-based and cultured meat. • WE MUST make it a point to reduce the number of animal products we waste. • WE MUST DEMAND that all aspects of the meat packaging process are regulated, monitored, and held accountable for their carbon footprint. • IF WE DO NOTHING, we will continue to be responsible for the exponential acceleration of the sixth mass extinction, and we must reckon with that.

Money Machine Janell Helbing That sleeping dragon’s slumber Of suited pigs and smug skeletons. Humans, horses, cattle; Same. All broken, battered, bruiseless, Consumed, commercialized, criminalized. Victimize, Validify, Avarice. A Fiscal farmland of monopolized murder, That sweet siren systemic suicide, Tagged, marked for damned, Ignored pain for gain. Profit, Pocket, Pontificate. Take your ticket and take your seat. We're all dying for that dime. Welcome to the Money Machine, Mother F**cker. There are two sureties in life that I was told from the beginning. That I would make money and that I would die. One I would strive to accomplish, the other is a fact. Both are a purpose. They are connected in every way. They are inescapable truths of humanity. One is a burden we constructed and one we are forced to reckon with. I was brought into this Money Machine to die for a dollar bill.

Success Monica Hervas A lot has changed for women in the last 100 years. Suffrage, equal wages, education. Despite the newer generations being able to walk through open doors now, previous generations fought relentlessly for these opportunities. To be successful you have to do it all. Though it is unspoken, women are raised with many expectations. Expectations of going to college, a well-paying job, marrying the right partner, having kids, are just a few of the many things on that list. But why must a woman do any of these things to be successful? Success, “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” Nowhere in the definition of success does it give a list of things for one to complete to deem themselves successful. So why do we put a long list on women for them to feel they must tick off each item to measure up in the world? • Success is what you make it. • Encourage women to make their own success. • Give them unlimited options to make their own success. • Teach them to thrive in their own way so they too can make the change in the world our ancestors fought for.

On the Fence Amanda Martinez Being as difficult as it is to talk about suicide, is the reason the topic needs to be addressed. From personal experience, there is a stigma in our society with mental illness and suicide. Studies show that nearly 1 in 5 high school students has considered killing themselves. While suicide rates are increasing, it is currently the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24-year-olds and second for 25 to 35-year-olds. When such an important issue is disregarded, people are left feeling hopeless without the proper resources to seek out for help. Therapy and psychiatric treatment aren’t always available to people who can’t afford it, and some people that need help don’t ever want or know how to go about getting it. Maybe one day soon as this subject has been brought more attention, people will be able to talk more openly about these issues. I feel there are necessary steps that need to be taken to start breaking the stigma and potentially saving the lives of the many people who may not be helped otherwise. • By creating art relating to suicide and mental health I can hopefully raise awareness. • Having more conversations involving the generally thought to be a “taboo” subject. • If you’ve been struggling mentally or know someone who displays any warning signs of someone who is suicidal- Speak up. Seek out help. Say Something.

A Call for Ethical Consumption Blakeley Miller What distinguishes a third wave coffee shop from all other consumer experiences, is the emphasis on a high-quality product that is obtained ethically, sustainably, and typically- on a smaller scale than larger corporate entities. Americans demand instant gratification for most of what they consume, and coffee is no different. In the United States alone, we consume 400 million cups of coffee each day. The United States imports over $4 billion dollars of coffee annually. Coffee farmers are vastly underpaid and overworked for their products; they live in economically vulnerable countries abroad, as it is a crop that can only thrive near the equator such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Guatemala, Honduras, and Costa Rica. We pay a price for the convenience of our consumption. We pay with blood. The American obsession with caffeine, coupled with our need for fast and convenient fixes, has created a devastating trade environment for farmers abroad. Our coffee markets participate in the economy with compassion. Perhaps saturating the market with an ethically sourced product is indeed what we should be doing, and as someone in the industry, I see market saturation as an opportunity for establishing a new norm in the coffee industry- real relationships with farmers, safe working conditions, and fair living wages for their product. CALL TO ACTION • Raise the industry standard for transparent and ethical business practices with coffee • Support coffee farmers abroad with fair wages and safe work conditions. • Forging virtuous partnerships at all levels of the industry. • Promote sustainable agribusiness for the generations yet to come. • Utilize coffee as a tool for social change and inspiring human connection. • Facilitate the economic growth of communities abroad by fair trade practices.

Above The Depths of Pain Jennifer Peek Tragedy is the true melting pot of America. In the wake of disaster, people from various backgrounds shed their prejudices, ideology, and ignorance to stand together. The mass shooting at the Jacksonville Landing brought violence to my doorstep; to a place I call home a place, where gamers, geeks, and rejects felt safe and had sense of their own community. Men and women came together to compete in an event they loved and were attacked by open gunfire. An event like the one at the Landing can shatter a city and its people. The shooter, the news, the uninformed, all threatened to divide us by stabbing stakes of blame into the event while ignoring the people who felt it on the ground. This tragedy did not ruin us, it cemented our bond within our unique community. Though GLHF is gone, the community remains and actively lifts our city above the depths of pain. • We must embrace each other without waiting for disaster; community is the safety net we all need. • We must include those on the outskirts: outreach and inclusion is the path to strong bonds and prevention of future horrors. • Everyone has a tribe, even those who feel alone have a kindred spirit waiting to be found.

Embrace What’s Left Abigail Santos Colonization of the Spaniards has left me and my country a new name — a new identification. Centuries ago my ancestors spoke and wrote a different language. In the twenty-first century it is believed that you are well educated when you speak English. The standard of beauty and social status is becoming lighter. Sometimes I am not sure what Filipinos are anymore. The country has been influenced by other cultures; I can’t tell what originated from where. • But this is what I do know about Filipinos: • We are hard workers. • We are loving people. • We are stronger when we are united despite our changing culture. • • Remember where my family comes from • Remember what they did to give you the best opportunities. • Remember to embrace what is left of it.

Manifesto for True Justice: United Stars Zachary Toth WE just want to see a world that we can be Proud to live in, it doesn’t have to be perfect. I. WE will systematically observe, analyze and break down the various ways that humans perceive one another. II. WE will become a common thread that binds humanity together as one Human Family. III. WE will cast aside the unnecessary judgement of our fellow man and forge a new way of thinking that will facilitate a productive lifestyle. IV. WE will mitigate the harmful effects humanity has had on our Planets equilibrium and establish a better means to live in harmony with Nature. V. WE will not be stopped, the power of a unified body of humans is a force to be reckoned with. VI. WE will show no fear to those who would oppose us.
 VII. WE will no longer sit idly by while those who seek to Corrupt the world continue to gain power.
 VIII. WE will show the utmost respect for our fellow man and embrace them as they are.
 IX. WE will show that humans are more than capable of thriving WITHOUT a well- defined Governing Body.

Gender’s Role in Violence: Crying is not Just for Girls Kendall Wilson We have done such a disservice to men as a society by raising boys to be masculine in a way that leads to isolation and aggression. Boys must learn from their mentors that feelings are not gendered and that there is value in being empathetic. We need to encourage boys throughout all stages of their life that they can fight depression by reaching out and asking for help. Men deserve the space to talk about their fears and emotion rather than suffering in silence. Being a man does not equate to being aggressive. · We need to raise boys to grow up to be men who recognize the strength in being vulnerable · We need to reveal the costs of toxic masculinity for men and society · We need to teach boys that they can reach out and ask for support · We need to stop associating emotions with gender · We need to raise boys to be men who are not threatened by criticism or competition · We need to affirm boys compassion and respect from a young age · Making these changes will not only benefit men but society as a whole.

PROCESS This is a visual Documentation of UNF Printmaking students printing large-scale woodblocks during the Fall 2018. UNF students ink large-scale blocks alongside FSCJ students, and prints are transferred to fabric using a steamroller during the Annual Blocktoberfest. The collaborative printing event was held on the Florida State College Jacksonville (FSCJ) campus on October 26, 2018.

BLOCKTOBERFEST Friday, October 26, 2018 Join us for our Annual Steamroller Extravaganza, a collaboration between FSCJ and UNF! 
 Thursday 10/25
 Gallery opening at FSCJ South Gallery 
 at the Wilson Center for the arts. Blocktoberfest Retrospective . Friday 10/26
 Steamroller Extravaganza! Full day of printing giant 4ft x 8ft woodcuts Event is open to the public from noon to sunset at the FSCJ M3 parking lot. More info: [email protected]

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