Last semester, a group of students invited members of the Carleton community to pick up a paint brush to “paint the world.”
Students from an international relations course at Carleton hosted “CU Paint the World,” an art event designed to foster cooperation between students.
“The project was that we had to host an event whose conception was founded in the basic tenant of liberalism. So cooperation and improving the well-being of others and defining borders,” said student Michael Strasser.
The project emerged as an idea for a final project grade and quickly turned into a campus-wide event. The canvas was a drawing of a world map sectioned off into multiple pieces to create a larger mosaic.
“A lot of people were excited, like little children, to paint something. Some even painted with their fingers,” Strasser said. “It was most interesting to see what people wanted to paint. A lot of people wanted to paint a piece of their own country or places they had traveled to and even places they wanted to go.”
The group teamed up with the Carleton branch of Amnesty International and took donations to paint in an effort to raise money for Amnesty’s “Stop Torture” campaign.
“We chose to work with Amnesty as part of our project because it related to international relations and the class, and their cause worked with our vision,” Strasser said. “The project was about little pieces coming together to one whole picture, one giant mosaic of the Carleton community that transcends boundaries.”
The event was well received and the finished painting will be donated to the school. Negotiations for a date and location are in progress with Carleton president Roseann Runte, who said she was happy to accept the painting and pleased with the overall project.
“It seems symbolic to donate it to Carleton because as we leave Carleton, it is like a little piece of us will always be part of the Ravens community,” Strasser said.
