Hanley Sustainability Institute
Forage Ahead the theme for Dinner in the Desert Kitchen V, a UD art exhibition and fundraiser
By Mark Gokavi
The fifth annual University of Dayton student-led art auction, can drive, dinner and art exhibit to benefit the Gem City Market will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Dec. 10 at The Hub powered by PNC Bank in the newly reopened Dayton Arcade at 31 South Main St.
Many soups will be served to benefit the Empty Bowls initiative, an international project with community focused impact. Plus, new student photographic works will be available to purchase while small editioned prints will be given to those who donate a non-perishable food item to the Dayton Foodbank.
Organizers also will debut a new double-issue of the student publication Desert Dispatch, featuring stories of local residents and organizations striving for food justice.
Students from several majors have partnered with the Gem City Market and their wellness partner Expressions of Life to investigate a broad range of themes around community resiliency, sustainability and social justice.
Organizers take their inspiration for the event theme from the term forage, meaning “to search widely for food or provisions” to reference communities who seek natural sustenance in their local forests and woodlands. But the term also applies to student projects, proposals, objects and inquiries that confront current environmental and social issues and seek to dismantle existing systems towards the aim of imagining a more just, equitable and sustainable world.
The event is organized in part by The Desert Kitchen Collective, a growing group of local artists and activists who seek to eradicate hunger, promote food justice and build awareness around multiple food-related issues.
For more information, contact Glenna Jennings at gjennings1@udayton.edu or (626) 676-0627. Jennings is an assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences teaching art and design.
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