Arizona Arts is pleased to announce the second cohort of JustArts Fellows for 2023-24. The program advances diversity and inclusion in the arts by asking student leaders to identify challenges and propose creative solutions.
“At their best, the arts open up spaces of possibility,” said Amy Kraehe, associate vice president for equity in the arts. “The unfortunate reality is that there is great disparity in the opportunities available for students to experience the arts before they get to college. Once in college, the pathways and resources to support arts participation are often limited. The JustArts Fellowship takes steps to right that inequity. The new class of Fellows will use the artforms they love to create spaces of possibility here at the University of Arizona and within the broader Tucson community.”
Joseph Campos, a native of Tucson, is a third-year undergraduate studying music production and audio engineering at the School of Music. Joseph’s project grows the relationship with local hip hop artists that was seeded in 2022-23 by inaugural JustArts Fellow Josh Barbre. In collaboration with the Tucson Hip Hop Festival, he will create a series of events for Arizona students to gain direct experiences in rapping and music production.
Sophia Harrigan is a third-year undergraduate double majoring in classics and film at the School of Theatre, Film & Television. Her project aims to raise student awareness about gender-based violence and bias in the filmmaking industry. She will organize opportunities for students to learn inclusive best practices that help prevent gender inequities, exclusions, and harm in film and theatre productions.
Diego Gonzales, a third-year undergraduate School of Dance major, was inspired by inaugural JustArts Fellow Arianna Aquino to use his artform to support student wellbeing. Diego will organize and facilitate a group of Wildcat volunteers to bring dance and movement into local schools. The project will share the healing and liberatory power of this art with youth who, because of society’s unrealistic body standards, gender expectations, or socioeconomic barriers, are often denied opportunities to express themselves through dance.
Semoria Mosley is a second-year graduate student studying photography, video, and imaging at the School of Art. She conceived Outside the Network, an installation project that will foster intimacy and recognition between students from “different sides of the tracks.” Her installation will consist of three campus telephone booths that participants enter to record a message, but only after listening to the previous student’s message in its entirety. This interactive art experience will culminate in a campus-wide audio pop-up event where the university’s 40,000 students can hear one another.
Anni Peng is a graduate-level music education major. Her Culturally Responsive Music project will go beyond the university campus to connect undergraduate student musicians with elders in the Chinese immigrant community of Tucson. Based on a needs assessment with the participants, Anni will design musical experiences to promote cultural exchange and social inclusion.
Each fellow receives a $6,000 award and a $1500 budget to implement their projects. In addition to these resources, the program is a community of practice that provides peer support and mentorship, so students actualize their passion for greater equity in the arts and develop their leadership in the process.
- JustArts Fellows named for student-driven equity projects | Sept. 6, 2022
Photos by Jonalynne Bustamante