On April 29, the Skyline College Library transformed into a vibrant hub of creativity and community during the culminating event of the Critical Global Citizenship Education (CGCE) Project. Led by Ash Asaro, Art Lab Coordinator, and organized by the CGCE team (Aria Frangos, Pia Walawalkar, Rachel Cunningham, Rob Williams, Susanne Schubert, and Thanh Nguyen), the event invited students, faculty, classified professionals, and administrators to co-create a large-scale, mixed-media art installation that reflects the heart of this year’s CGCE programming.
In response to a campus-wide call for submissions, over 20 community members contributed original poems, a play, photographs, and visual art. These works—together with photography from Professor Diane Jones’ students and broadsides created in CGCE workshops—were blended with new creations during the event to produce a powerful collaborative piece.
With 45 attendees, the library came alive as participants gathered to create nine canvas panels, each reflecting core themes that emerged across the year’s CGCE events: love, hope, death, population, nature, and climate change. The live art-making process offered a space for shared reflection, imagination, and creative expression grounded in both global and local realities.
The installation also features a selection of the Global Stories collected by Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) students, who led this initiative as part of their College Project. Their leadership in gathering diverse, personal narratives from across the Skyline community—students, faculty, and staff alike—was instrumental in advancing the CGCE goal of centering lived experience and inclusive storytelling.
The nine completed panels now hang in the Skyline College Library, alongside 27 of the 50 Global Stories and serve as a lasting testament to the power of community art, student leadership, and critical global citizenship in action.
Article by Pia Walawalkar
