Under-Resourced Classroom, 2021
In many under-resourced schools, printer paper serves as the vehicle for printing, writing assignments, and art projects. While “under-resourced” has no formal definition, it often refers to schools that cannot afford to supply students with basic materials, hire and maintain quality teachers, and provide consistent extracurricular activities, among other things. Yet, most funding models are arranged to allow schools to thrive.
The state of Michigan, for example, funds roughly 80% of school budgets through per-pupil support. Because Michigan is Schools of Choice, it has experienced an academic white flight, allowing interpersonal racism to influence policy and negatively affect many majority non-white schools.
In this installation, 16 desks made from only printer paper and wheatpaste populated a small room, creating a claustrophobic and overwhelming feeling that reflects many classrooms in this country. The lack of real desks underneath the paper desks represented the operational fragility many schools face while the eye holes cut at their bases represented the veiled racism built into the public education system.
24” x 36” x 30” (each)
over 2,000 sheets of printer paper, wheatpaste
