Studio Arts DEI & Anti-Racism

Department Statement

The LMU Studio Arts Program acknowledges and is committed to dismantling oppressive systems and inequities. We engage in the process of reimagining what and how we teach and create, by ensuring that diversity, equity, inclusion, and anti-racism permeate the curriculum. We hope to repair a broken system and prevent further injustices by engaging with equitable and anti-racist practices through art and design education.

Actions We Are Engaged In

Our goal is to create a departmental ethos centered on anti-racist and inclusive practices that serve as a guideline as we move forward in our work as artists, designers and educators. This includes:

• Re-examining our curriculum with the goal of decentering whiteness and providing our students with a diverse range of arts and cultural practices and heritages.
• Spotlighting BIPOC voices in our programming, including KaleidoLA.
• Spotlighting BIPOC artistic and cultural activities and alumni in our departmental communication, including our newsletter.
• Continuing to examine creative resources and studio practices which decenter whiteness and make space for marginalized identities.
• Addressing how anti-racism, anti-oppression, and diversity, equity and inclusivity become centered in changes to our departmental mission.

DEI Courses

Land Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the Tongva peoples as the traditional land caretakers of Tovaangar (the Los Angeles basin and southern Channel Islands) and are grateful to have the opportunity to work in this place.