CUP: Recent pages: Projects

Imagining Alternatives

Emma Kilroy — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 14:11:48 -0400

Projects/TeacherTrainings/ImaginingAlternatives

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, gun violence and hate crimes in New York City continue to increase, disproportionately impacting poor and working-class Black, Brown, and immigrant communities. The mayor’s office has responded by increasing police budgets, while continuing to systematically underfund social services and community programs. How could the city respond to hate crimes in ways that actually address the causes of violence? Developed for a three-day workshop at Forsyth Satellite Academy, this public curriculum is for educators and anyone interested in using art education to think collaboratively about defunding the police.

You can download this curriculum for free by filling out this short survey here.

Whos An Essential Worker

Marisa Hetzler — Wed, 06 Jul 2022 14:09:11 -0400

Projects/TeacherTrainings/WhosAnEssentialWorker

Who’s an essential worker? Who decides?

This curriculum guide uses design and art as tools for research and investigation.You can use these lessons to explore how essential workers are impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, who benefits from their work, and how they can have more of a say over their working conditions.

This curriculum is designed for educators and students engaged in distance learning. Each lesson can be easily adapted for different levels of access to technology. You can use these activities individually, or as a series.

These activities have been designed with high schoolers in mind, but many of these activities can be adapted for younger students.

You can download this curriculum for free by filling out this short survey here.

Break It Down

Marisa Hetzler — Fri, 29 Apr 2022 16:50:19 -0400

Projects/MakingPolicyPublic/BreakItDown

Over the past several decades, many laws were passed to make the criminal and immigration legal systems more interconnected. As a result, the federal government, police, and prisons often share information about individuals and work together. This means that any contact with the police system can severely impact an individual’s immigration status. And in a system where immigrants of color are already disproportionately impacted by racist policing, this leads to even harsher consequences like deportation and family separation.

To help immigrants understand the risks of this contact, the Immigrant Justice Network (IJN) partnered with CUP and designer Emily Lin to create Break it Down! The bilingual English and Spanish guide explains the different ways that contact with the criminal legal system can impact your immigration status and how the systems are connected. With this information, immigrants can advocate for their rights when interacting with police and fight back against the unjust laws that impact them.

The Immigrant Justice Network launched Break it Down! at a training on decriminalization for community members in February 2022. The guide will be distributed to IJN’s network of local and regional immigrant rights organizations, criminal justice groups, and allied organizations.

Design Fellows

Marisa Hetzler — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 17:35:50 -0500

Projects/PublicAccessDesign/DesignFellows

Hua Chen (they/them) is a designer, illustrator, and learner. They are currently working at Droga5 — previously, they have worked with Base Design and the Pratt Institute School of Design, among other studios and institutions. They work across identity, print, and digital spaces for clients in arts/culture, nonprofit, and education, and are learning about extra-institutional learning methods, community resilience, and sewing. They received a BFA in Communications Design in 2019 from Pratt Institute. Currently, they live in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn with their cat and a growing collection of books surrounding the lore and science of trees.

hchndesign.com

Collaborations

Marisa Hetzler — Mon, 07 Mar 2022 17:32:55 -0500

Projects/PublicAccessDesign/Collaborations

Public Access Design

Amanda Finuccio — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 14:19:31 -0500

Projects/PublicAccessDesign

Public Access Design is CUP’s series of projects that use design to make complex urban issues accessible to the New Yorkers most affected by them.

Public Access Design projects are short, intensive collaborations of CUP, an artist or designer, and a community organization that is working to break down a complex policy or planning issue that affects its constituents. The collaboration results in a visual tool that meets an advocate’s organizing needs as they arise—getting information directly to communities where they are, and when they most need it.

The goal is to put more, and more kinds, of powerful visual tools in the hands of people working on critical social justice issues.

For Advocates

Amanda Finuccio — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 14:16:35 -0500

Projects/PublicAccessDesign/ForAdvocates

Public Access Design is a 4–6 month long collaboration between CUP staff, a designer (or design team), and an organization advocating for community change, resulting in the creation of a booklet that breaks down a complex policy issue.

Public Access Design is for advocates who have a pressing issue that could benefit from a visual explanation. Topics are concise in scope and scale, and focus on immediate issues that are affecting communities.

CUP defines policy broadly. Topics can address: policies (for example, rent stabilization law), systems (for example, how juvenile justice works), or processes (for example, applying for asylum). The explanation of the policy, system, or process must meet a social justice goal and the needs of a marginalized community (including low-income, immigrant, and communities of color, among others).

While the effects of public policies can be widespread, the discussion and understanding of these policies are usually not. We aim to make information on policy truly public: accessible, meaningful, and shared. We want to create opportunities for designers to engage social issues without sacrificing experimentation, and for advocacy organizations to reach their constituencies better through design.

Past projects have covered things like:

Project topics should not be:

promotional/lobbying materials for campaigns
marketing materials for programs
resource directories
plans or proposals (for example, a proposed policy change)
about laws that haven’t been passed yet

Apply Now

Amanda Finuccio — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 14:14:43 -0500

Projects/PublicAccessDesign/ApplyNow

Jury

Amanda Finuccio — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 14:09:58 -0500

Projects/PublicAccessDesign/Jury

Quadira Coles is a Penn State and John Jay College alumni with a BS in Criminal Justice and a MPA in Public Policy. Her work as a domestic violence advocate at Blair County Courthouse and Youth Counselor at a child welfare agency fueled her passion for policy, politics, and a desire to be a catalyst for change. Quadira has conducted LGBTQ+ research and served as a Policy Advocacy Fellow at the Legal Action Center, working on policies that intersect Health and Criminal Justice. She has worked on a Town Council grassroots campaign as the Millennial/GenZ Outreach Coordinator, engaging new young voters. Quadira is the Vice President and board member of the New Jersey Abortion Access Fund and has also served as IGNITE National’s New York Region Fellow, where she worked with a large number of college women to organzie and train them to become politically active leaders in their communities. She now serves as GGE’s policy manager, continuing her work with young girls of color but this time with the ability to influence policy and dismantle systemic challenges that will secure a better future for them. She recently collaborated with CUP on Hey, That’s Not Okay.

Zelene Suchilt is a community organizer, poet and filmmaker based in New York. She has over ten years of experience working for human rights and environmental justice in Texas and New York.

Chloe Chang is a design strategist and researcher that advocates for social justice and equity as the best outcome of any project or process. Most recently they have been part of the team at design studio Openbox, working to create more opportunities for student-led education at the Williamsburg High School of Arts and Technology, and researching how to support families adapting to life with COVID-19 at home and at school. Chloe moved to Brooklyn from Beijing in 2009 to get their BFA in Communication Design from Pratt Institute, and has made a home here since. She was a Public Access Design Fellow and worked Your Truth, Your Rights.

Gabrielle Widjaja (Gabby) is a Chinese-born, California-raised, Brooklyn-based designer, illustrator, and tattoo artist. Gabby is currently a freelance designer in Brooklyn, NYC and has done projects in editorial and book design, brand design, and general graphic design. She was most recently Brand Designer at Airtable from 2019-2021, and previously was a design intern at Stripe. Outside of the studio Gabby’s alter ego is Gentle Oriental, a studio and personal practice exploring the intersections of visual ephemera and Asian American diasporic identity. Gabby graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design from RISD ’19.

For Designers

Amanda Finuccio — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 14:09:25 -0500

Projects/PublicAccessDesign/ForDesigners

The Public Access Design Fellowship is a yearlong professional development program for New York City-based emerging artists and designers. The Fellowship invites New York City-based emerging designers and artists to learn about community-engaged design alongside a cohort. Over the course of the year, Fellows attend six to seven meetings beginning January 2022. During these meetings, Fellows come together to learn about community-engaged design, anti-oppression practices, and community organizing.

In addition to the Fellowship meetings, three to four Fellows will have the opportunity to collaborate on a Public Access Design project. Public Access Design is a 4–6 month long collaboration of CUP staff, a designer (or design team), and an organization advocating for community change, resulting in the creation of a booklet that breaks down a complex policy issue.

Trouble With Your Water Bill

siyona ravi — Thu, 18 Nov 2021 12:36:44 -0500

Projects/PublicAccessDesign/TroubleWithYourWaterBill

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused financial hardship for many New Yorkers, who have to make difficult choices between paying for basic needs like rent and health care and paying utility bills. To partially address this, New York State created temporary laws to protect access to water during the public health emergency. But many New Yorkers don’t know these laws exist and living without water or living with the threat of having their water shut-off.

To protect access to water for low-income New Yorkers during and after the pandemic, the Public Utility Law Project (PULP), Public Access Design Fellow, Arthur Kim, and CUP collaborated on Trouble With Your Water Bill?

The guide explains the different types of water companies, the different rights people have depending on their water company, and the practical steps New Yorkers can take to keep their water on or correct a wrongful shut-off. With this information, New Yorkers. With this information, New Yorkers can claim their rights to water access now and in the future.

PULP will launch Trouble With Your Water Bill? during a webinar at the Rural Housing Coalition of New York’s annual conference. This guide will be distributed through PULP’s technical assistance programs and through legal services organizations, housing rights advocates, and elected officials.

Bronx Be Well

Fielding Hong — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 15:29:29 -0400

Projects/UrbanInvestigations/BronxBeWell

Welcome to West Farms in the South Bronx! There’s a lot of beauty here. Like the food, the music, and the spirit of the people. And there’s a lot of things that aren’t easy about living here. Like one of the highest rates of unemployment and poverty in New York City. West Farms also has some of the highest rates of obesity, diabetes, and asthma in the city. And the COVID-19 pandemic has made things even more difficult for a lot of our neighbors.

Why are there such high rates of poverty and unemployment in our community? How do these things impact our mental health? What can young people do to address mental health concerns in our community and take action to support our neighbors?

In the summer of 2021, CUP, Teaching Artist Hugo Rojas, and students from the Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School collaborated to investigate these questions. Students explored the issue through digital filmmaking, creating stop-motion animations, surveying community members, and interviewing stakeholders and decision makers.

The group gathered what they learned and created a short documentary film that explores how poverty impacts mental health. Watch the film below!

Students debuted their final project virtually through a public presentation, where they presented their film and shared their creative process.

See more photos of students in action here!

Puff Puff Passed

Fielding Hong — Mon, 01 Nov 2021 15:27:49 -0400

Projects/UrbanInvestigations/PuffPuffPassed

In April of 2021, the New York State legislature passed the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (MRTA) to legalize recreational marijuana use. Communities like Red Hook, where inequitable enforcement of drug laws has led to mass incarceration, are concerned about continuing to be penalized even after legalization.

How will marijuana legalization impact New Yorkers? How can the harm be repaired? Who will benefit? How will it impact youth?

In the Summer of 2021, CUP collaborated with Teaching Artist Elliott Golden and public high school students from the Red Hook Community Justice Center to investigate these questions. Students explored digital filmmaking by shooting commercial parodies, creating stop-motion animations, surveying community members, and interviewing stakeholders and decision makers.

The group gathered what they learned and created a short documentary film that explores the impacts of marijuana legalization on New York. Watch the film below!

Students debuted their final project virtually through a public presentation, where they presented their film and shared their creative process to almost one hundred attendees.

See more photos of students in action here!

Record It Report It

Marisa Hetzler — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 13:17:20 -0400

Projects/PublicAccessDesign/RecordItReportIt

Searching for affordable housing in New York City is daunting. And even though housing vouchers are meant to help people pay rent, security deposits, and moving fees, it’s even more difficult for voucher holders to find housing. Without any guidance on how to use their vouchers or what their rights are, it’s easy for people to be discriminated against by landlords and brokers and voucher holders often feel frustrated by the lack of options in the housing process.

Landlords and brokers cannot reject anyone for using a voucher. If they do, that’s considered source of income discrimination and it’s illegal! That’s why Neighbors Together and Unlock NYC collaborated with CUP and designer Gica Tam to create Record It. Report It!, a guide that explains how to identify source of income discrimination and how to report it. It also highlights helpful tips when searching for an apartment and the power of reporting as a tool to improve housing for all New Yorkers.

Neighbors Together and Unlock NYC are sharing the guide with their network of member leaders and community partners organizing to improve the voucher system. They’ll also use this tool in various know-your-rights trainings on source of income discrimination and housing search workshops.

Hey Thats Not Okay

siyona ravi — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 14:05:22 -0400

Projects/PublicAccessDesign/HeyThatsNotOkay

One in three young people in NYC schools experience gender-based violence from their peers. Gender-based violence can look like a lot of different things, but at its core, it’s actions and comments that attack a person’s body, gender, and other ways they present themselves. This includes slutshaming, pressuring someone for sex, intentionally misgendering someone, or online harassment.

For young people of color–especially those who are queer, transgender, nonbinary, or gender nonconforming–dealing with gender-based violence is difficult and confusing. Many behaviors that cause harm are often normalized in schools , making it hard for students to speak up. And the process of reporting an incident is complicated and time consuming, so most cases go unreported.

That’s why Girls for Gender Equity reached out to CUP to help students experiencing gender-based violence understand their options and get support. With the help of designer Luisa Velez, the team created Hey, that’s not okay, a booklet that breaks down what gender-based violence is, how to report it, where to get support, and the importance of consent.

Girls for Gender Equity launched Hey, that’s not okay at a town hall event in April 2021, led by Cis and Trans Black girls and Gender Nonconforming and Non binary youth of color. Students talked about their experiences, led discussions with experts in the field, and shared their visions for the changes schools can make to end gender-based violence. Girls for Gender Equity is distributing the guide to students across NYC public schools.

Safe Space

Fielding Hong — Wed, 25 Aug 2021 17:19:26 -0400

Projects/CityStudies/SafeSpace

Policing in schools is one of the fastest growing areas of law enforcement in the U.S. What makes a school safe? How does police presence impact school safety? How can students impact safety in their schools?

In the fall of 2019, CUP collaborated with Teaching Artist Ro Garrido and Teacher Nick Deming’s 11th grade English class at the International Community High School’s (ICHS) to explore school safety. To investigate, students got out of the classroom to speak with their peers and community members about what makes them feel safe. The group teamed up with Designer Marcela Szwarc and created Safe Space? to teach others what they learned and encourage students to get involved in school safety decisions.

Students debuted their project to their peers at the International Community High School, where they discussed their creative process, explored the future of school safety through collaborative drawing, and celebrated their hard work over snacks!

Get your own booklet here!

Check out more photos of students in action here!

Cup Home Movies The Sequel

Emma Kilroy — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 10:51:31 -0400

Projects/CityStudies/CUPHomeMoviesTheSequel

In spring 2021 CUP collaborated with Teaching Artist Susana Arellano and teachers from the International Community High School (ICHS) to create civically engaged art activities to do at home! These video resources were created to challenge the limitations of remote learning and give students space to connect with each other in a fun and engaging way. The videos are part of CUP Home Movies, a series of remote learning activities that encourage students to think critically about their relationship to their communities. All activities use basic household supplies and are accompanied by a student-friendly lesson plan. These free, easy-to-use materials can be used by any educator!

CUP debuted the new Home Movies at the International Community High School (ICHS) in the Bronx. Here’s what students and teachers had to say:

“Through [Mapping My Support Network], I noticed that so many people supported me.” – Adama, ICHS student

“The activity was interesting because it’s something that I haven’t really thought about before. It’s interesting to think about how other people see you.” – Gabriella, ICHS student

“During remote learning, some of these students rarely participate, but during this activity, these students were really engaged and produced really interesting work!” – Ms. Akilah Clarke, ICHS Teacher

Watch the videos below and download the lesson plans by clicking on the PDF icon located below each video.

Here To Stay

Clair Beltran — Thu, 12 Aug 2021 17:18:35 -0400

Projects/MakingPolicyPublic/HereToStay

Being an undocumented young person in the United States and trying to navigate accessing a green card can be overwhelming. And on top of that, some young people may deal with harmful relationships with their parents or guardians, leading to more stress in understanding their pathway to remaining in the United States. Special Immigrant Juvenile Status (SIJS) is a form of immigration relief created to support young people, but the process is complicated and young people need thoughtful information to make an informed decision. They also need the support of a lawyer to navigate the different steps.

That’s why The Door collaborated with CUP and designer Grace Han to create a fold-out poster in English, Spanish, and French called Here to Stay! The guide breaks down what SIJS is, the criteria to qualify, the process young people need to work through with the support of a lawyer, and the long-term benefits of SIJS.

The project launched at a press conference hosted by The Door. A young person, who applied for their green card through SIJS, spoke about their experience at the event. Designer Grace Han also spoke about what it meant to them to work on this project and how excited they are to see this campaign around the city.

The Door is distributing copies of Here to Stay! to thousands of young people in New York City in order to reach those who most need access to this information. With support from the NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, the campaign is also currently displayed on LinkNYC kiosks throughout the five boroughs.

Reclaim Your Worker Rights

Marisa Hetzler — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 16:02:35 -0400

Projects/MakingPolicyPublic/ReclaimYourWorkerRights

What’s the difference between an independent contractor and an employee? And does it really matter? It turns out it really does! Getting misclassified could mean paying almost double in taxes and losing benefits you’re entitled to, including Social Security and unemployment compensation.

To help workers understand how to avoid misclassification, Philadelphia Legal Assistance’s Taxpayer Support Clinic collaborated with CUP and designers Mike Tully and Peter Gamlen to create Reclaim Your Worker Rights! The guide breaks down different tax forms for employees and independent contractors and explains how to avoid misclassification. It folds out into a poster that shows workers how to fight back if they’ve been misclassified, and how to get support to claim the benefits they deserve.

Philadelphia Legal Assistance launched the guide at a panel they hosted with other legal advocates to explain misclassification and its tax consequences as well as how it intersects with Social Security, unemployment compensation, wage theft, and other labor violations. They are distributing the poster to thousands of low-income workers locally through their own clients and at outreach events and nationally through other Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) sites, other social service and legal assistance providers, and their network of Low Income Taxpayer Clinics.

Innocent Until Proven Risky

Marisa Hetzler — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 15:22:47 -0400

Projects/MakingPolicyPublic/InnocentUntilProvenRisky

Every day, nearly half a million people who have only been accused of a crime are held in jail before their trial, mostly because they can’t afford to pay bail. And 70% of them are people of color. One proposed solution to lower the rates of people held in jail pretrial is to use Risk Assessment Tools (RATs) to help judges set a person’s pretrial conditions. RATs use demographic information to guess how a person accused of a crime will behave if they’re released from jail before trial. But the data that RATs use to make predictions reflects who is policed and arrested more often – not who commits more crimes. As RATs are being used more frequently across the country with little transparency, the racial disparities in pretrial detention have not improved, and in some places, have worsened.

To help communities understand how RATs work and how to organize for alternatives, CUP collaborated with JustLeadershipUSA and designer Katrin Bichler to create Innocent Until Proven Risky. The fold-out poster illustrates how pretrial Risk Assessment Tools work and how they can impact individuals differently based on their race and class. The guide folds out into a poster that explores community-based alternatives to RATs.

Innocent Until Proven Risky will be distributed through JustLeadershipUSA’s national network of organizers and community members.

How It Works

Amanda Finuccio — Fri, 06 Aug 2021 10:28:16 -0400

Projects/PublicAccessDesign/HowItWorks

Just as public access television puts the means of communication in the hands of communities, CUP’s Public Access Design program puts the power of design in the hands of community organizers and advocates.

Public Access Design projects are visual tools that go directly to communities whose access to information, or lack thereof, can have major consequences for their health, livelihood, and well-being. These tools help ordinary residents of the city better understand and participate in democratic processes, creating real social change.

Can You See My Screen

Fielding Hong — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 10:19:57 -0400

Projects/UrbanInvestigations/CanYouSeeMyScreen

When schools closed in March 2020, about 16 million K-12 students in the U.S. didn’t have access to a working device, high-speed Internet, or both. This digital divide disproportionately affects Black, Latinx, and low-income students. What is the digital divide? How does the lack of digital equity impact students doing remote learning? What could the future of digital learning look like?

In the spring of 2021, CUP collaborated with Teaching Artist Stephanie Eche and students from KAPPA International High School in the Bronx to investigate this issue. Students designed their ideal remote learning environments, surveyed their peers and community members, and interviewed key stakeholders working on the issue.

The team gathered what they learned and created Can You See My Screen?, a poster that teaches others about the digital divide and how we might close the gap.

Students premiered their final project virtually through a public debut presentation, where they presented their booklet and shared their creative process.

Get your own booklet here!

See more photos of students in action here!

Watch a video of the students describing their creative process here!

Your Truth Your Rights

siyona ravi — Wed, 21 Jul 2021 15:51:32 -0400

Projects/PublicAccessDesign/YourTruthYourRights

Transgender, Gender Nonconforming, Intersex, and Nonbinary (TGNCINB) people are some of the most vulnerable populations in jails and prisons and face even more obstacles in an already traumatic environment, like harassment from corrections officers and other incarcerated people. There are some housing options available to help TGNCINB individuals feel safer in prisons and jails but few people know these options and fewer know their legal rights around gender affirming treatment.

The Bronx Defenders’ LGBTQ Defense Project and the Prisoners’ Rights Project at the Legal Aid Society teamed up with designers Chloe Chang and D Wang Shi Zhao, and CUP to create Your Truth Your Rights, a booklet to explain TGNCINB folks’ rights to safe housing in New York City jails and New York State prisons. It also highlights other rights that TGNCINB individuals have to feel affirmed in their gender identity and what to do if your rights are violated.

The guide will be distributed throughout New York City by public defenders. It will also be used in trainings for other attorneys and to other community-based organizations that support TGNCINB people.

Health Inside And Out

Fielding Hong — Mon, 19 Jul 2021 15:52:39 -0400

Projects/UrbanInvestigations/HealthInsideAndOut

In the Summer of 2019, New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene warned New Yorkers that contact with the legal system has lasting impact on people’s mental health and physical health. From police stops and searches, to having a relative or community member incarcerated, interactions with the system cause lasting harm.

How does incarceration impact the mental and physical health of individuals and their communities? How is incarceration a public health issue?

During the winter of 2019, CUP collaborated with Teaching Artist Farideh Sakhaeifar and public high school students from Knowledge and Power Preparatory Academy International High School to unpack the public health impacts of prisons and jails on New Yorkers and their communities. To investigate, students surveyed members of their community, interviewed stakeholders working on the issue, and created art work that explored ideas of incarceration and liberation.

Students created a booklet to teach others what they learned about incarceration and mental and physical health.

Get your own booklet here!

See more photos of students in action here!

Check out the students talking about their work below!

Tenants Rights To Repairs

Marisa Hetzler — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 11:57:35 -0400

Projects/MakingPolicyPublic/TenantsRightsToRepairs

A leaky roof. Broken elevators. Pests in your apartment. These are all common problems that tenants face in their homes. Usually, these get fixed by asking the landlord to make repairs. But some landlords refuse to make repairs in order to push tenants out and raise the rent. What do you do then?

If you live in a rent-stabilized apartment in New York City, you have the right to get repairs made in your home and to have access to essential services like heat and hot water. CUP, designer Kyle Richardson, and the Flatbush Tenant Coalition collaborated to create Tenants’ Rights to Repairs, a trilingual guide in English, Spanish, and Haitian Creole that lets folks know their rights as tenants and what steps you can take if your landlord isn’t making repairs. It also highlights the important work of tenants’ associations and the power of organizing for housing in your building and community.

Flatbush Tenant Coalition is sharing the guide with their tenant associations and at their coalition meetings. They will also use the guide in their community-based Know Your Rights trainings and citywide trainings and events held in collaboration with the Right to Counsel Coalition and other housing organizations.