Connor Fellowships are awarded to current grad students seeking to make a positive impact on the Art Ed Department here at City College, and on the larger citywide art education community! This post is part of a series introducing Fall 2023 Connor Fellows.
Meet Midori Okuyama, who supported the department through her great efforts in co-coordinating our annual Grad and Alumni art show:
For the 2023 version of the Art Education Program’s annual Graduate and Alumni Art Show, I envisioned embracing diversity to be the unifying theme for the variety of the artworks made by the art educators from the program. We all chose this path based on our passion for educating the next generation of citizens through visual art, yet the art we make shows a range of mediums and styles. I hoped the show to be inclusive and open to different perspectives and the art works to be presented in a way the diversity is respected and seen as an asset, enhancing each other. This meant a space where everyone would feel appreciated for their contribution and find their voice and vision reflected. It turned out to be successfully exemplified in the outcome of the exhibition itself and the artist reception where people were able to reconnect with old friends and also make new friends.
