Students at Cleveland Institute of Art Create Maps for Homeless People

By Alyssa Brown

From article in the CIA newsletter

At the Cleveland Institute of Art, instructor Sai Sinbondit is holding a course called projectFIND, a class focused using their skills to aid homeless people in the Cleveland community.  The three students in this class all had some history dealing with homeless people, which drew them to take the course.  Each student had to meet with representatives of social service organizations and homeless individuals in the local shelters to discuss and get an idea of what the students needed to create with their project.  Ultimately, the students designed a pocket-sized resource maps for the homeless.  They looked at the existing Homeless Street Card and the entry shelters in Cleveland. 

Through this project, it is hoped that students of art and artists will take a different look at their work and see how it can affect the world around them.   The art students were involved because maps are often pieces of functional art that can become iconic such as the Metro Map in DC or the NYC Subway.  The students who participated in the project said the whole process opened their eyes to the situation homeless people face everyday. 

Copyright Cleveland Street Chronical and NEOCH June 2015