Inclusions Public Art

The red bricks that make up Harvard’s built environment have witnessed centuries of personal and public history, from individual transformation to institutional upheaval. This participatory art installation features the work of undergraduates who have carved their personal mark (words, designs, etc.) onto a brick—the age-old material that constitutes our campus.

Inclusions, created by Kiana Rawji ’23, Cecilia Zhou ’23, and Luke Reeve MDE ‘23, affirms that just as Harvard has shaped its students, so too have the students shaped Harvard; the student bricks will serve as records of formative contact between entities, expressions of individual identity, presence, and power in public space. During the month of April 2022, the bricks will be used to create a cohesive installation in Harvard Yard near Thayer Hall. 

Join Kiana and Cecilia, with special guest commentator Professor Tracy K. Smith and moderator Professor Stephen Gray for Inclusions: Envisioning Justice on Harvard's Campus, 5-6 p.m. April 19 at Harvard Commons in Smith Campus Center.  This dynamic conversation about the intersection of art, visual culture and representation will address: What does a more just Harvard campus look and feel like? The discussion will foreground the perspectives of Harvard students, exploring how we can use art to collectively envision justice and translating these ideas to the immediate context of our own campus.

Presented in partnership with Harvard College students who participated in the artmaking, the Office for the Arts at Harvard, Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Science, the OFA Ceramics Program, the Presidential Initiative on Harvard & the Legacy of Slavery, housed at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute, and The Monument Project. 

This event will be held onsite and on Zoom. Register for the Zoom link here.  The onsite event will follow all current Harvard protocols for the safety of all participants. Please bring a mask and proof of vaccination in case these are required. 

We are extraordinarily grateful to the following individuals, whose time, energy, and guidance made this project possible: Jack Megan, Rachel DeLucas, Kathy King, Alicia Anstead, Elie Glyn, Ann Hirsch, Ethan Labowitz, Francesca Bewer, Matthew Battles, Sarah Newman, Jeffrey Schnapp, Julia Spackman, Justin Ng, Connie Wang, Evans Schultes, David Andrade, J.B. Wei, Alejandro Lopez, Riad El Soufi, Jennifer Chu, Grace Kim, and Lauryn Wilson.