The Department of Studio Arts at the University of Pittsburgh aims to dynamically embrace diversity, equity, and inclusivity as core values. We recognize this requires radical rethinking beyond incremental adjustment. We pledge to engage proactively in the work of combating inequity in our community, and we encourage participation by all members of the department – faculty, staff, students – in cultivating a caring and supportive community bonded by mutual respect. We strive to conceive of diversity in the broadest terms possible, including gender identity, gender expression, sexuality, race, age, disability, culture, nationality, religious affiliation, or lack thereof, and economic situation.
The way in which we make and share art embraces diverse and wide-ranging aesthetics and modes of expression. We are dedicated to advancing an artistic and intellectual climate where people with wildly divergent aesthetics, ideas, and ways of being may converse freely with one other, and those who have been historically marginalized along vectors of difference are safe from hate speech or discrimination. We are committed to fostering an environment where all feel welcomed, respected, and heard.
Educate Ourselves
Complete anti-racism training, and work with the University to identify further training opportunities in diversity, equity, and inclusion for the future.
Listen To and Support Our Students
Equip faculty to direct students to appropriate support resources on campus including reporting of discrimination and bias incidents.
Offer material and equipment support to students who face financial hardship.
Invite student feedback regarding diversity, equity and inclusion.
Promote Anti-Racist Models
Deliberately foreground the voices, contributions, and leadership of those who identify as Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), and LGBTQIA artists and thinkers.
Recruit and Retain Diverse Members of Our Community
Recruit, hire, mentor, and retain BIPOC and LGBTQIA faculty and staff.
Mentor and retain BIPOC and LGBTQIA students.
Join Collective Actions in Our Institution and Community
Actively support and contribute to institutional initiatives in diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of Pittsburgh and in the Pittsburgh region.
This statement displays the commitment the Studio Arts department has towards equity and inclusion. We will continue working towards these goals knowing this work is never truly done. We also recognize that equity and inclusion are not synonymous with justice - as a department we will continue to work to create an equitable, inclusive, and just department and society.
Special thank you to the University of Pittsburgh’s Departments of Music and History of Art and Architecture's effort developing much of the language we have adapted here.