16,553-spoon art exhibit to open at Zapara School of Business

Titled “Article 24,” the installation is the work of Riverside artist Rebecca Waring-Crane who serves as the Creative-in-Residence at La Sierra’s Zapara School of Business. The 16,553 spoons, which were cut from food packaging such as cereal boxes, are individually suspended by string from netting hung across the business school entrance rotunda. 
A reception for “Article 24” will be held on Thursday, April 24, 5 – 6:30 p.m. at the business school where the exhibit has been on display for public viewing since the end of March. The reception will offer information on ways attendees can become involved with nonprofits whose efforts address hunger and poverty issues affecting the region.

“Children are our most vulnerable community members and nutritious food is a basic human right." -- Rebecca Waring-Crane, Creative-in-Residence, Zapara School of Business

“Article 24” is inspired by the United Nations Article 24 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child which states, “Children have the right to the best health care possible, clean water to drink, healthy food and a clean and safe environment to live in.”  The installation and its 16,553 cardboard spoons aim to create awareness of childhood food insecurity issues in Riverside––the number of spoons represents the number of elementary school children in the city who qualify for the federal free lunch program. The data derives from Waring-Crane’s research through the local chapter of Feeding America, a nationwide food bank network.

“This piece is inspired and will hopefully highlight this issue [childhood food insecurity] in a meaningful way,” Waring-Crane says in a video about the exhibit and its initial inspiration that derived from a novel and its main character. “Children are our most vulnerable community members and nutritious food is a basic human right. …My hope is that Riverside will do a good job taking care of their children,” she said.

Between February and March, volunteers from the campus and the community cut out spoons from donated, light-weight food packaging and later helped hang the individual spoons from the netting. Participants included firefighters from Riverside’s Station 8 and a representative from the office of State Assemblywoman Leticia Castillo.

On March 27, 14-year-old Riverside resident Livia Howe along with her grandmother, Charlotte Jackson, was helping along with other volunteers in tying string to the cardboard spoons and suspending them from netting.Livia described the activity as “fun,” adding, “It’s just cool to see all these people that just came out to help and what we’re doing, how we’ll make an impact,” she said.

“We strive to find ways to raise the social consciousness of our business students.” -- John Thomas, Dean, Zapara School of Business

Waring-Crane is recognized for her installation and sculptural work and exhibits in traditional galleries and in non-traditional spaces. She holds a Bachelor of Science in elementary education, a master’s degree in English and communication, and an MFA in studio art from Cal State San Bernardino. She is the first designated Creative-in-Residence at the Zapara School of Business.

Waring-Crane is a former business school entrepreneurship student who possesses a unique story-telling ability and is relaying the story of childhood food insecurity visually through “Article 24,” noted Zapara School of Business Dean John Thomas.

“We strive to find ways to raise the social consciousness of our business students,” he said. “We are the world’s richest country and yet we have more than 16,000 children in Riverside who don’t have access to enough nutritious food. How do we as business educators raise the awareness of our students? Our collaboration with Rebecca is one avenue for providing opportunities to our students in which they are confronted with the reality of social inequity and challenged to find ways through innovation of addressing the problem.”

La Sierra University and the Zapara School of Business are located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside. For further information about the “Article 24” art installation reception, contact Lovelyn Razzouk at the Zapara School of Business at lrazzouk@lasierra.edu.