Recent research on DNA reveals that human beings have an extremely varied genetic inheritance; even in some very isolated populations, the genetic variation is remarkable. A person from Haiti can have DNA that is shared with people from France, Tunisia, Poland, Vietnam and Argentina. This insight led me to think that each one of us carries a good part of the world’s genetic diversity. In this way, our fingerprint, which identifies us as unique individuals, could be visualized as a symbol of this diversity.

In most rural places, being young or a woman usually puts you at a disadvantage in terms of education and economic opportunities. Rural youth face these specific challenges. They are often under-employed or employed in low productivity sectors. This portrait imagines how technology and education can penetrate and improve the world’s most forgotten places. It’s a vision of a world where human capital is complemented and most people from rural areas won’t need to migrate to the city in search of a better life.

In theory, organizations must treat everyone equally when recruiting; but it is still the case that hidden, sometimes even unconscious, stereotypes heavily influence who we hire. This tends to make organizations and teams homogenous — and lacking the huge benefits of diverse perspectives.

My art symbolizes the elderly in our society and reflects the inevitable stage in a human’s life cycle. The contrast in color (the people are black and white, while the jewelry is in color) expresses the idea that objects outlive the people who wear and use them. Each individual’s most prized possession is featured expressing the beauty of individuality. The woman in this piece is my grandmother. The map behind her shows her travels and her Pakistani sari shows her origins in contrast to the man’s clothing, which is an expression of western culture. Their weathered skin and rough wrinkles link with the map’s background revealing the treks these individuals embarked on during their youth. These two individuals represent the community of elderly people who often fear what the future may bring for them.

My painting illustrates a young Black girl wearing the iconic “Mary Jane” shoes with bobby socks. From 1904 to the present, these shoes have been traditionally advertised as dress shoes for little white girls. The painting’s subliminal message is: “My shoes and socks are like yours and I am like you.” Having a Black child wearing the shoes and socks makes her a universal symbol representing all young girls and the challenges they face from iconic commercial stereotypes created by the white-dominated advertising world. Manufacturers have only recently begun to acknowledge their role in perpetuating institutionalized racism in advertising. At first glance, “Stand in My Shoes” may seem to be just a realistic painting. But take a second glance and consider who is standing in them.

The boy in the photograph is my student; his name is Sezer. Sezer was born in 2012 with spina bifida. He has had six operations in eight years. With the help of his parents, he can maintain many of his basic living activities, but Sezer is a smart, hardworking and determined child. He wants to play basketball in the Paralympics when he grows up. I hope he achieves everything he wants in his life and is very happy.

The phrase “I love myself” is one coated with terror and discomfort. In a society that profits off people (especially women) by picking apart all of their insecurities, engaging in acts of self-acceptance is an unspeakable rebellion. It shouldn’t be! We must wholeheartedly embrace ourselves before being able to unconditionally love all others. We must embrace our own differences, first and foremost. The journey begins there!

The boy in this picture is my own and he is disabled. Some years ago he played drums in a musical group that consists of disabled children. They performed at concerts, festivals and received many prizes. Every disabled child has hopes, dreams, desires and feelings. Every disabled child has abilities, either explicit or hidden. Every disabled child is able to love and they want to be loved and to be understood and supported.

I wanted to portray an unlikely hero helping an older individual cross a city street. The piece is made up of individual assets that were sketched, inked and scanned digitally to be placed and colored together.

Shirley Chisholm shattered a glass ceiling as the first African-American woman elected to Congress. She fought tirelessly for the Equal Rights Amendment, which guarantees equal rights to all Americans regardless of their gender. To me, Shirley Chisholm embodies diversity and inclusion because she gave a voice to many Americans whose needs went unheard by our government because of their race or sex. In my painting, I portrayed Shirley as a colorful beacon of hope whose legacy will be passed down for generations to come.

This piece represents the unconditional love that parents and caregivers give to an autistic person who could be a child or an adult. The blue baby swan represents not only the blue color symbolizing autism, but also celebrates uniqueness and the acceptance of differences. As the mom of an autistic child, I painted this with my heart. I am happy to transmit my own feelings of unconditional love and to share the important message of autism awareness with others. In this particular piece, I painted the surroundings in monochromatic values to distinguish the baby swan as the center of attention. The different textures, accomplished by the use of a palette knife, created dimension and a sense of movement. The heavy strokes of my palette knife techniques stand in contrast to the lightness of the white swan’s feathers.

An invisible illness is a disability that isn’t immediately apparent. These include such chronic illnesses as diabetes, sleep disorders, chronic pain, and visual and auditory impairments. Through my piece, I wanted to communicate the mental stress that having an invisible illness can put on someone, due to the many ignorant responses that they receive. I’ve lived my whole life with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (an invisible chronic pain disorder) and have been told, “It’s all in your head!” or “You’re lucky! I wish I had a handicapped parking tag,” more times than I can count. Because I look “normal,” I get mean looks when I step out of my car, park in a handicapped spot, or stand up from my wheelchair. Although it may take time, I believe that we need to educate ourselves about invisible illnesses and come together to support those that may be affected in our community and around the world.

I draw the subjects of my paintings freely and loosely; I let my feelings guide me while I add color, without any commitment to reality. My figures have no color, genre or face. What is important is their presence and energy. I painted these people using only the feet as symbols of our external differences. These distinctions may or may not represent what others think they do.

I painted this to demonstrate same-sex love occurs in all species, and it is just as beautiful and valuable as heterosexual love. It is part of a series I did to honor Pride Day in Burbank since it was cancelled due to COVID-19 this year.

In this work, Lady Liberty is a Black woman who stands before the millions of Black lives that have been lost to slavery and injustice in this country. She is lighting the way and leading us forward. The piece also reflects the recent official acknowledgement that the original Statue of Liberty was made to honor the emancipation of the slaves. In fact, the original statue was supposed to be holding chains in her left hand. These chains were instead placed at her feet. This piece honors that history.

I wanted to create something colorful and youthful. I want to let kids know it’s okay to be different, no matter what!

The playground is an important place for me. I love going to the playground especially during my break in my school. But sometimes, I play alone. I hope we can all play together. Boys and girls, big and small, Chinese, Malay, Indian and people of all races and religions coming together and playing happily.

I am a school teacher by profession and photography is my passion. This photo shows a rural grandmother in front of a hut in a village of West Bengal, India, sitting on the ground, teaching her young students.

Acceptance of others in a society begins in the heart of the individual. Loving others by treating them with respect and empathy helps to protect them from hateful and destructive attitudes.

I created this piece to encourage kids (especially teenagers) to just be themselves. Embrace all of your differences, from your background, to your appearance, to where you come from. It’s what makes you who you are, and what makes you unique. The piece should inspire people to be comfortable with themselves and just be different, whatever that means to them.

I wanted to stress the importance of working together toward the goal of defeating childhood cancer – a devastating disease. At first glance, we all look different, but we all struggle with problems and worries. Uniting for a common goal is a way to overcome the barriers that divide us. In doing so, we can enrich our lives and the lives of others.

To me, the concept of “embracing our differences” means showing off what’s unique about yourself. My piece depicts a little girl standing in front of an aisle of dolls advertised to look like the person buying them. Through my work, I attempt to highlight the little struggles people of color go through every day.

Towering skyscraper buildings dominating the skyline stand in contrast to the stilt houses lining the waterside. It’s a true picture of the widening gap between rich and poor in our society. Recent studies show that more than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries where income differentials are widening. It’s a sad truth that the more developed a country becomes, the larger its income gap grows. This disparity inspired me to create this painting. I hope it will promote public awareness about the widening division between rich and poor. I encourage our community to help enrich the lives of our poor brethren and lessen that deep divide between us.

The theme inspired me to create this painting within a painting. I depicted a diverse group of people who represent diversity in many forms, including ethnic origin, appearance, style of clothing, medical conditions and religious differences—they each have a place in a map of the world where it all comes together! While each person adds their own color onto the map, the colors have no border and bleed and mix into each other, creating a beautiful scene. If we accept the beauty of diversity in our lives, we can all come together with our individual colors and paint our wonderful, colorful world.

The language of visual art allows us to approach others in a more direct and open way, since, through our senses, we can understand the world in a personal and authentic way. This illustration features an empowered girl, aware of her rights and seeing a better future for all.

Now and throughout history, people have created physical, social, political and religious boundaries intended to separate and divide. This is why it’s vitally important to raise awareness of the many instances of people crossing these boundaries to engage with each other and celebrate a shared humanity. Today, there are more and more people seeking to explore the way other cultures think, speak, pray, read and write. If we think an intercultural conversation is worthwhile, quite often we must create special circumstances in which two or more members of the human family, who have remained largely ignorant about the other or others, cross cultural boundaries and find themselves in the same room, with a mediating voice encouraging them to speak. “Conversation” juxtaposes different calligraphic styles, languages and scripts on faces with various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. This diversity of identity and expression encourages us to find common ground in spite of our differences. As Saadi Shirazi puts it “Adam’s sons are body limbs, to say; for they’re created of the same clay. Should one organ be troubled by pain, others would suffer severe strain.”

My painting was inspired by a Howard Thurman quote: “Community cannot for long feed on itself; it can only flourish with the coming of others from beyond, the unknown and undiscovered brothers.” All of the models for this piece either are or have been members of the homeless community of Sarasota. For many of us, they are all truly unknown and undiscovered. I believe that the problems we face can only be addressed when we are courageous enough to engage in the conversation with those most different from ourselves.

My image shows the older brother trying to help his younger brother drink water in a brick field while their parents are busy at work. These children have lost their childhood as they are missing their parents’ guidance.

To quote Helen Keller, “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” I participated in a disabled children’s rally where I witnessed this wonderful scene of a deaf and mute girl guiding a blind boy. It reminds me that none of us are perfect, and we all need different skills and ways of thinking to solve complex contemporary problems. There is so much to learn just by observing those who depend on each other like these two.

If we embraced our differences, the people listed on this scroll would still be alive.

Despite our differences in gender, sexuality, ethnicity, religion, and stature we are all human beings. We are connected because we have the same sky as our roof; we breathe the same air; and bask under the same sunlight. We belong to one race – the human race.

This piece has nothing to do with sunglasses; the title is a play on words. This digital painting represents the many different “shades” or skin tones that make Black beautiful.

As an art teacher, I have seen art heal a heart on multiple occasions. For many, art is therapy and can be as soothing for the soul as traditional therapy. If you find that your heart needs healing, try healing with a paintbrush or pencil!

The innocence of making new friends without imprinted discriminatory boundaries. This artwork was created while creating the book Woke Seed, which promotes equality by the belief in One Universal God.

I wanted to make diversity of people in different job titles of many professions and well as different shades of skin color.

I draw what I see and then add my own style to it. It’s me I am a little different from everyone else. The world looks a little different to me with autism I usually always add flowers or shape patterns with shading.

Awakening can be interpreted in many ways, as with all art right? But I personally created this piece to depict the nature of awakening to a deeper consciousness behind the ego or “thinking mind”. So in essence this piece is about choosing love over fear, and in doing so, embracing all things, as we are all connected by our shared consciousness. I am an advocate for generational trauma/trauma healing and mental health-related issues. My artwork is my platform for speaking on these subjects and expanding their reach. I am committed to expanding the reach of these topics, especially in my local community of Ypsilanti and the surrounding areas so I thank you for your consideration and time!

This is my visual note to self..to never give up the fight. Just change the way the tools of my life are used

There is something profoundly beautiful about solidarity. Almost anyone who has attended a rally, protest or picket-line can speak to the palpable feelings of resilience, love and hope that they ignite. These demonstrations enrich our community in immeasurable ways, whether it’s supporting and uplifting vulnerable populations, holding those in power accountable, or motivating people to use their agency to enact change. This is especially true during Covid, when people risk their health to fight for a just and inclusive society. For the last several years, I have documented our community protests, strikes and marches, and “Peace, Love, Resistance” is based on the photographs I have taken. It is admittedly difficult to encapsulate the power of these moments in a single visual piece because the most moving part of them isn’t visual. It is their vibration. That vibration is what we carry into our community after the demonstration disperses. I created “Peace, Love, Resistance” in an attempt to express that—our community vibration.

This piece of art was created at a time that I was processing many emotions related to the state of our country. A country that is so highly regarded around the world but also still suffers from the systems that uphold white supremacy. I completed the piece with the words “We Rise” to pay homage to Maya Angelou and shared it publicly on my IG after Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing. It was a tough year, 2020. Not only a pandemic that really illustrated the inequalities/ disparities that we need to work on repairing but–the thing that stood out to me the most that year was May. That is often my favorite month, with my birthday.. but a few days after my birthday that year was the awful murder of George Floyd. There have been and are so many things that need to be done to make our country a more inclusive place for all. The fight is a daily fight. It takes place everywhere. I am fortunate to be a teacher and be able to feel like I am making an impact and help to share the importance of anti-racism but even in times like these teachers can be reported for teaching anything that may be considered “critical race theory.” So, I have many emotions behind this piece and I hope that it inspires people to rise up.

This illustration is a celebration of singers I grew up listening to. Seeing women of color represented as fabulous and talented singers helped me to believe that I could grow up to be as fabulous and successful even if my skin wasn’t white myself. A homage to that Marian Wright Edelman quote: “You can’t be what you can’t see.”

Whether or not you admit it, destiny is shaping our lives. With a future of a multi-color world and the future that looks bright. I created a drawing with a computer-generated background of flags of the world.

My name is Tai Azzaro and I am 8 years old. I am an artist and drew this on my iPad. It’s a picture of me with my friends.

Malcolm Forbes once said, “Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.”

I made this piece to appeal to all, a way to say how differences are beautiful!

A contribution to the Black Lives Matter movement and it signifies executions and revolutions being televised and photographed without resolve and initially showing the exploitation of the Black Lives Matter movement

I would like to say diversity is no just the color of your skin the sexualities we have, or the religion we follow, it is something that unifies us as humanity. This is something I attempted to portray in my art piece.

This image of “Earth” is suspended in a blue sky. Birds, like humans, are migrating, looking for homes. They are of different colors- the colors that make up the Earth. They are not of solid color, but are “mixed” and none of them are exactly the same. The Earth is a place they can all feel welcome and at home.

Collaborative Art with Ellen Wilt – Welcome Fence Open to All Adults & Children

My name is Bennett and I am a 5th grade student at Lakewood Elementary School. The inspiration for my work came from words by Dr. Martin Luther King JR. It’s completed with markers and done in bright rainbow colors. I also created patterns with these bright colors. My favorite part of my work is the way the colors all work together. When people look at my work I hope they are reminded to always do what’s right.

This artwork was inspired by Martin Luther King’s quote about his dream that one day” little black boys and little black girls will be able to join hands with white boys and white girls and walk together as brother and sister”. I decided to use really happy and bright colors to show you can be happy with people even if you don’t look the same. I made everyone different because in reality no one is the same and everyone’s different. When people look at my art I want them to see unity, peace and love. For this piece I chose to use colored pencil and marker. My favorite part of my piece was the lesson behind it that everybody should know and everybody should live by. My motto for this piece is that you don’t have to be the same to be friends.

What if I told you that being diagnosed with dyslexia was the greatest gift I have ever received? I realize that this statement sounds crazy but it’s absolutely true. I was in the sixth grade, and after taking a series of tests, it was determined that I had dyslexia. There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to dyslexia. Just ask anyone diagnosed with this learning disability and every story you hear will be unique. For me, dyslexia was not an occasional stumble over a word here and there; rather, it was endless hours of frustration and confusion. It was like looking through broken glass or wearing reverse googles. Words swapped places and even appeared backward; almost like my brain and my eyes were not in sync. After years of learning new strategies and ways to work with my dyslexia, I have realized what a gift having dyslexia has been. My disability has taught me pure determination and how to better relate to the world. I hope my piece gives my audience a new perspective and a glimpse of what dyslexia is like for me and maybe like for others.

The death of George Floyd was shocking to the world I have tried to process this tragedy and others in session in creative way and in the context of history of such unfortunate events.

When I think of enriching lives, through diversity and inclusion. While making this piece I can’t help but to wonder “It’s going to be hard to embrace if you don’t want to be included.” Why are white people so scared to let their children learn the truth about all cultures in history? “There will forever be a fight to get diversity included into history classes of America. Until we can teach a broader narrative of the cultural experience in the U.S. this is what diversity and inclusion looks like to me.

The pandemic woke us up to remind us that we are all in this WORLD together from the countryside to the cities around the planet we need to take care of each other better. Ubuntu in the African language of the Zulu people means “I am because we are” is an ancient African concept that was adapted into philosophy in post-apartheid South Africa.

My painting depicts Opal Lee, the Grandmother of Juneteenth. It is done in Acrylic paint on a 14 in x 17 canvas. For most white Americans July 4th is the day to celebrate freedom. However, not everyone was freed on July 4th, 1776. Slavery still existed in the USA until June 19th, 1865. June 19th for African American communities became the second independence day known as Juneteenth which has been celebrated for 150 years. In 2021, America finally made Juneteenth a federal holiday. In doing so, the country recognized the differences in people’s perception of independence day. A major reason why Juneteenth became a federal holiday is because of one woman, Opal Lee. 86 year old Opal Lee walked 2 ½ miles every day in 2016 from Fort Worth, Texas to Washington DC to gain recognition for the holiday. Her determination and grit manufactured Juneteenth into the federal holiday it is today. Her effort demonstrated the importance of recognizing the difference of cultures in the US and her message is about unity, “None of us are free until we are all free.”

Embrace means to hug, to support, and to include. All three meanings can be used together or separately. The words we use to say or write are important. The words we read or believe are important. Through words we can embrace our likenesses and our differences.