Everyone is Welcome

As a part of Carnegie Mellon’s Sustainability Weekend, The Frame Gallery hosted "*Everyone is Welcome* — An Inclusive Sustainability Showcase," curated by junior art major Anna Schulz. The exhibit was held from Wednesday, April 4, to Sunday, April 8, and a reception was held on Thursday, April 5. Alongside the works from Carnegie Mellon students that tackled and combined issues about sustainability with issues about diversity and masculinity, the reception also featured performances from Tribe Eternal, 1Hood Media, Katherine Bussato, Javier L.H. Gonzalez, and Samaras, an 11-year-old student who recited a poem about sustainability.

The showcase truly embodied its title, Everyone is Welcome. Each of the different works masterfully showcased the beliefs of the artist behind it, with some of the works by different artists even contrasting each other at times, making the diversity even more refreshing. Additionally, along with the topic of sustainability, it was also refreshing to see a wide breadth of social issues shown and discussed through the works, making me feel like I was learning more not just about the artist but about the world around me. All of the art pieces were engaging, using a wide variety of materials — such as living frogs, red solo cups, and oil — in new and unique ways that I’d never thought possible, enriching the beauty of not only the artwork but also the material used to create it.

Additionally, the talent of the performers was top notch. Tribe Eternal and 1Hood Media used their musical platform to truly speak about the issues they cared about and were passionate about, and did so in such a powerful, engaging, and infectiously entertaining way. They also loved bringing the audience and crowd along, showering them with their high energy and livening the spirit of the whole event. I can’t wait to support all the artists that were involved on their next ventures, and I hope they can carry that mission of activism further on in their careers.

Overall, Everyone is Welcome was an astounding success that spoke up for not just sustainability, but for racial injustice, for toxic masculinity, for pro-choice, and for a lot more social issues that the artists and people were passionate about. It was a moving, thoughtful, and engaging exhibit that instantly made me feel welcomed among a crowd of strangers and made me feel more empowered about the world around me.