BY JOANNA C. VALENTE

In times of crisis, we rely on art to be bolder, to express how we feel and think. This is why I'm grateful that 17 artists, currently students at Parsons The New School for Design, have come together to express the concept of identity. This exhibit is called “id: ME,” and is currently being shown at the Undercurrent Gallery in the East Village. Yesterday, the exhibit opened, and it's a key exploration in discovering the boundaries between between real and fake identities.

According to Elisha Wagman, a Professor of Integrative Studies at Parsons, stated in an email that the students are all freshman who took a class called Integratives 1 that "encouraged students to blur the boundaries between art and creative writing," She went on to say:

"During the term, students became increasingly concerned about serious social issues that may be negatively byTrump's election, and in an effort to help resist some of these changes and to voice their concern over serious social issues as sexism, gender bias and inequality and racism, they made these works. In essence, this exhibit is a choir of their voices, raised loud."

The students were helped to create the exhibit by Jerry Spivack, artist and Vice President of the Experiments in Art and Technology at the Armory, Judith Siegel, Director of Education and Media Relations at the Jewish Museum in new York, along with advertising executive Parry Rosenberg, retired school principal Arlynn Brody, lawyer Stephen Kalinsky, and public relations expert Ruth Kavesh.

Below are some photographs of the art:

Joanna C. Valente is a human who lives in Brooklyn, New York. They are the author of Sirs & Madams (Aldrich Press, 2014), The Gods Are Dead (Deadly Chaps Press, 2015), Marys of the Sea (2016, ELJ Publications), & Xenos (2016, Agape Editions). They received their MFA in writing at Sarah Lawrence College. Joanna is also the founder of Yes, Poetry, as well as the managing editor for Luna Luna Magazine and CCM. Some of their writing has appeared in Prelude, The Atlas Review, The Feminist Wire, BUST, Pouch, and elsewhere. They also teach workshops at Brooklyn Poets.