Community Love art-making campaign spotlights childhood food insecurity

The Community Love art-making campaign kicked off Monday, Feb. 10 and runs through Thurs., Feb. 13, from 3:30 – 6:30 p.m. each day, with the goal of producing 16,553 spoons cut out of cardboard food packaging such as cereal boxes. Participants gather at spoon-making tables in the business school’s atrium where they can trace wooden spoons onto the packaging and cut out spoon shapes in uniform sizes. Once the cardboard spoons have been created, Riverside artist Rebecca Waring-Crane will incorporate them into a large art installation that will occupy the business school’s rotunda. The installation is expected to be completed in mid-March and will be titled “Article 24.” It is inspired by the United Nations Article 24 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Community participants in the spoon-making Community Love campaign thus far have included firefighters from Riverside’s Station 8 and a representative from the office of State Assemblywoman Leticia Castillo.

Waring-Crane drew inspiration for the art installation work under development, as well as an earlier smaller project that is currently on display in the school’s rotunda, from research she conducted on the number of elementary school-aged children in Riverside who qualify for the federal free lunch program. That number totals 16,553.

The project speaks to childhood hunger’s often unseen challenges and emphasizes community action’s importance, noted Waring-Crane in an article about her first project. Titled “empty,” the work involves 504 ceramic spoons which Crane made that are suspended at various lengths from a wooden framework. Each spoon represents 10 elementary school children – more than 5,000 qualify for the federally-assisted free lunch program in Riverside’s Alvord Unified School District. As part of the artist’s reception for “empty,” Crane organized a panel of regional leaders with organizations that tackle poverty, homelessness and hunger issues. The “Article 24” exhibit is a follow-on project that builds off of the first.

Toward spurring the production of cardboard spoons for the “Article 24” installation, students may enter a spoon-making competition – the individual who has cut out the most spoons will win up to $150 at Mamma Mia’s restaurant in Riverside. Spoon counts are due by 11 a.m., Feb. 14 at the Zapara School of Business administrative office.

Waring-Crane is also holds the position of Creative-in-Residence at the business school, its first such designation. Waring-Crane is recognized for her installation and sculptural work. She exhibits in traditional galleries and in non-traditional spaces. She grew up in Takoma Park, Maryland and holds a Bachelor of Science in elementary education, a master’s degree in English and communication, and an MFA in studio art. Before arriving to Riverside in 2008 she lived in Beirut, Nairobi, and South Bend, Indiana.

For further information contact lrazzouk@lasierra.edu or call 951-785-2464. La Sierra University and the Zapara School of Business are located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside.