‘Support Black Designers.’ is a temporary mural featuring artwork & writing by Black creatives — curated by the Daniels Art Directive with designers Ashita Parekh and Tolu Alabi — installed on the north facade of One Spadina, the University of Toronto John H. Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, & Design.

This mural is a call to action for dismantling systemic racism in design disciplines and aligns with the Black Lives Matter movement. It calls for the urgent reform of workplaces and academic institutions of design. We understand a mural does not do justice to the discrimination the Black community faces daily. We hope this community initiative unmasks systemic racism in design & inspires concrete change for an equitable future.

The Daniels Art Directive, a student club, launched a competition for mural compositions about social issues. The final mural was intended to engage multiple artists in creating pixels (individual pieces of art & writing to form the mural). Ashita and Tolu’s design won the vote from the Daniels community, and was finalized through consultation with Black students, clubs, faculty, and professionals.

As a community-driven project, the call for 248 pixels was open to all. However, of the 84 entries, only 20% were from Black creatives. This disparity highlights the need to improve representation & opportunity for Black individuals in design disciplines. See the mural in person and visit the project website to learn more about the featured artists and their pixels!

Thank you to our sponsors: The Daniels Faculty, Vistaprint, Above Ground Art Supplies, UofT Bookstores, Mulvey & Banani Lighting, Rising Youth, TakingIT Global, Government of Canada, Canada Service Corps, Dollarama. Lights by TPL Lighting.