On a spring afternoon, participants lined up in Western Illinois University’s Multicultural Center and grabbed 9x11 sheets of paper.
On them, they spelled out facets of their identities — from being musicians, educators, and students to being Latino, non-binary, and an ally.
Collectively, the sheets were part of the art exhibit “I Am Not Invisible,” by Kendra Hallberg, who studied fine art at WIU as undergrad and is now a graduate student in College Student Personnel.
Hallberg said the interactive art exhibit was in response to the current political climate — and wanting to create a community where people can join together in their differences and similarities.
“I'm not going to necessarily introduce myself as, I am a grad student normally. I would be like, oh, my name is Kendra. I am female. I do this, that, and the other. But I'm not going to necessarily think about some of these other things. But a lot of students have those commonalities that they just don't think of,” Hallberg said.
Participants could take their identity sheets home, or hang them with all the others. They could also screen-print their identities on t-shirts and tote bags and wear them around campus.
“Everyone on campus is so vastly different from their majors to their identities. But we're really all very similar. We're all students. That's one big commonality factor and we all attend Western Illinois,” Hallberg said.
Whether people wrote they were Lego enthusiasts or about their gender identity, Hallberg said the exhibit was about making people feel less alone.
All WIU faculty, students, and staff were invited to participate.
Tri States Public Radio produced this story. TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department please consider making a financial contribution.
