APEX Summer 2020 Exhibition

Rachel Connell

Iowa State’s Academic Program for Excellence (APEX) was a four-week academic summer program designed for incoming multicultural freshmen. APEX helps make the transition to Iowa State University during the summer prior to your first semester enrolled as a college student. Jordan Brooks, the Director of Equity, Inclusion, and Multicultural Student Success for The College of Design leads the APEX program for the college.


About the Artists:


Ahillan Kumar Creative Voice Statement: “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver posted a video two days ago (7/27/20) on the Uighur crisis that is ongoing in China. I watched it, as I’m a regular if John Oliver’s, and was reminded of the horror that Uighurs’, a Muslim minority in China, face. The Chinese government is attempting to cleanse the Uighurs from their own country. They are publicly portrayed and perceived as robbers and thieves. In an effort to re-educate them they are sent to camps that strip them of their religious beliefs, thoughts, and practices. Doesn’t this remind you of something…”


Carlos Ocasio Bio: Carlos Ocasio is a peculiar teen from Puerto Rico who may be sleepy and messy sometimes, but he’s also a very happy and humorous person all the time, he likes laughing and making people laugh. Apart from that he is  very curious so he is always learning, exploring and meeting new people when he gets the chance to.
Carlos Ocasio Creative Voice Statement: “In this piece I focus on the media’s censorship and lies that we see a lot of nowadays. It is very sad how much the truth is twisted and here I symbolically represent the manipulation that we can not see that goes on everyday by powerful people towards minorities. In this piece we can also see the role that we play into all of this and how we end up falling into the trap and becoming a part of this vicious cycle.”