MEL ISIDOR

DESIGNER, artist

“These works are excerpts from “A Voice at the Table,” a research initiative exploring the role affirmative spaces play in promoting community building, empowerment, and resilience for Black womxn in Roxbury, Boston, MA. The first of two images features popular affirmative spaces for Black womxn in Roxbury as identified through surveys and interviews. The second image captures 77 survey responses to the question “What is one question you would pose to the community?” overlaying the mural, “Africa is the Beginning,” from the Roxbury YMCA, a piece that serves to honor Pan-African heritage and inspire community mobilization. Full research outputs leverage photography, collage, illustration, mapping, and writing to produce a graphic booklet and interactive website [avoiceatthetable.us]. This project speaks to my passion to bridge complex topics around urban development, design, and planning between academia and art.”

BLACK & EVOLVING

“My practice both personal and professional is grounded in the notion that “The only lasting truth is Change,” [Octavia Butler]. I find joy in both the balance and chaos of continued learning, expansion, and growth.”