THE Vol. 103 No. 2 IONIAN The Official Student-Run Newspaper of Iona College February 25 - March 9, 2021 Like Ionian Newspaper on Facebook www.TheIonian.org Follow us on Twitter @IonianNewspaper News...................2 Black History Art exhibit portrays struggles, emphasizes Month.................3 hope Features...............5 By: Margaret Dougherty Managing Editor difficulties faced today both personally and Opinion................7 by society as a whole. The artists each used WHERE TO START their unique medium – such as paintings, Arts.....................8 collages, sculptures and photography – to illuminate some of these issues and attempt Sports...............10 to reach an understanding of one another’s struggles. Many of the recurring themes in the Ways to limit art centered around the pandemic, including screen time struggles with mental health, economic Features & Lifestyle uncertainty and food insecurity. However, the most dominant theme of the exhibit is the Editor Aliyah discrimination and marginalization faced by Rodriguez explores people of color. Many of the artists were inspired by the FEATURES ways to give your growth of the Black Lives Matter movement eyes a break. this past year. Janet Smith Castronuovo created a mixed media collage entitled ‘We Are: The “Humanity Arises and Takes to the Street” Brooklyn Saints’ to represent the many people who marched for Black lives in 2020. In the collage, a is an emotional masked protester raises their hands while a documentary on red circle around their head creates a target football, community mark. Behind the protester is a collection of newspaper clippings and powerful phrases This documentary that were commonly heard in 2020, such as focuses on more “Hands up, don’t shoot,” “I can’t breathe” than just the game of and “Stop the spread.” Although last year was football. filled with tragedy, Castronuovo found solace ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT & ARTS in using art as a creative outlet to reveal the PHOTO FROM @NEWROCHELLENY ON TWITTER. positive side of things. The exhibit brings awareness to many different struggles, especially those caused by the pandemic “After reading newspaper headlines and Dr. Kaalund reflects and racial discrimination. seeing news reports every day of crisis after on background, crisis, I am surprisingly more hopeful than MONTH The art exhibit “Struggle: An Exhibition for Justice – A 60-Year Commemoration of the ever that we can start to mend, reestablishing Y diversity, Black for Our Times” opened on Feb. 15 at the Lincoln School Decision.” Decided in 1961, a deeper understanding of the progress needed History Month Rotunda Gallery in the New Rochelle City the Lincoln School Desegregation Case was to fix the ills we have suffered as a people for Dr. Kaalund Hall. Due to COVID-19, the exhibit is also the first application of the Brown v. Board of centuries,” Castronuovo said. HISTOR available virtually. “Struggle” is presented by Education decision to win in a northern city. discusses her views The Lincoln Park Conservancy, Inc., the New Hailing from Westchester, Putnam, CK on culture and Rochelle Council on the Arts and the Iona Rockland, Connecticut and New York See EXHIBIT on A L diversity. College Council on the Arts. The exhibit is part City, a total of 24 artists participated in the Page 2 B of a larger series of events known as “Quest exhibit. “Struggle” focuses on the countless Iona men’s basketball out of MAAC regular Workshop focuses on letting go of season after SPORTS positive COVID-19 constraints, free thinking in problem solving case By: Krystal Ortiz News Editor Men’s basketball will The Identifying Problem no longer compete & Ideation workshop, in the MAAC regular intended to help students season. with “design thinking,” was hosted by Rob Kissner on Feb. 18. @IonianNewspaper Kissner, Founder & CEO of the Digital Arts Follow us! Experience, aimed to help students discover a problem worth solving through the Twitter, process of design thinking. Instagram, Design thinking is a design methodology that provides a Facebook solution-based approach to solving problems. Ideation and is a key component to the innovation process, Snapchat according to Kissner. Participants in the workshop Questions? learned techniques for generating ideas and sharing Comments? them with potential users. Contact us at See WORKSHOP on (914) 633-2370 PHOTO FROM IONA.EDU. Page 2 [email protected] Kissner stressed the importance of getting creative and letting go of pre-set ideas while brainstorming . [email protected] NEWS Feb. 25 - March 9 2021 | Page 2 EXHIBIT WORKSHOP From Page 1 From Page 1 Another shows a man better world Participants also learned how to So, you go into this, with nothing artist, Shahaan whose face is despite the identify user traits, needs and sce- in mind and based on what you O. Azeem, covered with an current turbu- narios. The workshop also covered learned, you throw everything that drew on his American flag. lence, and they concept-testing. you can at the wall and slowly refine own experienc- He appears to hope their art Kissner explained the divergent that solution until you start to make es as a Muslim be struggling inspires others process of design thinking to the some headway.” immigrant and to remove the to do the same. participants as a basic way to figure Kissner wanted the participants to hopes to chal- suffocating flag “I am an art out what the specific problem is. understand the importance of letting lenge people’s and the words evangelist shar- “We have a trigger; we experience go of “constraints,” prepositioned Interested in writing for assumptions. in the back- ing my message a problem; we put ourselves in the ways of thinking based on data col- “My work ground – “back of hope,” shoes of the users to learn some lected, while brainstorming. the Ionian? explores issues to Africa,” artist Christina insight about it,” Kissner said. “Based “When you start brainstorming as Email our of identity, “criminal,” “in- Thomas Greene on that we identify what the real part of the ideation phase of design Editor-in-Chief, equality and ferior” – stress said. need is and who the people are that thinking, put all of the constraints Stacey Franciamore, representation the pain and If you are have that real need and then con- aside,” Kissner said. “This is the by taking a abuse endured interested in verge on a clear and concise problem hardest part about this. We have to at critical view of by Black people viewing the statement.” put all of the constraints floating sfranciamore1@gaels. the perception in this country. virtual exhib- Kissner stressed the importance of inside our heads aside and start to iona.edu and repre- Although it, visit the seeing the process of design thinking freely brainstorm.” sentation of the themes Lincoln Park all the way through by examining As one of the major points, people of color addressed in Conservancy, all of the facts before coming to a Kissner wanted to point out that all and margin- the “Struggle” Inc. YouTube conclusion. ideas are important despite how far- alized groups exhibition are channel or the “This is the pit fall for people who fetched they may seem. in American leaden with Br. Kenneth try to solve problems is that they “Anything goes, it does not matter society,” Azeem heartache, the Chapman come up with a solution as soon how realistic or not it is in this phase said. sense of hope Gallery page on as they see the problem,” Kissner because you want to get creativity One of outshines the the Iona web- said. “Design thinking is about the flowing, you want to be really playful Azeem’s troubles. The site. “Struggle: solution not coming until way later with this process, and even if some- striking pieces artists express An Exhibition because you are going to mess it up, thing is totally unattainable, there are is an untitled their commit- for Our Times” you are going to fail, you are going kernels of things in there that may oil painting ment to bring runs through to come up with the wrong ideas, trigger new ideas,” Kissner said. with gold leaf about change April 16. you are not going to know enough. on canvas that and create a Outside Iona By: Krystal Ortiz News Editor Throughout our hectic student lives, we should always remain aware of what is happening around us. In this column, I find the most significant things going on in the world and provide you with a small blurb of all the important details. Here are some of the major events that have been happening since last issue of The Ionian: General Coronavirus Update. Globally, cases have almost surpassed 112 million with a little over 22 million active cases. The U.S. still leads with the most cases almost reaching 29 million with a death toll surpassing 500,000. There are more COVID-19-related American deaths than there were on the battlefields of World War I, World War II and the Vietnam War combined. The U.S. accounts for nearly 20% of global COVID deaths, but makes up only 4.25% of the global population. President Biden and Vice President Harris mourned those lost with a moment of silence on Monday. Despite the statistics, vaccines are expected to be delayed by recent extreme weather. The White House was expected to deliver 6 million doses of the vaccines across the country. Movie theaters in New York City will be permitted to open for the first time since the start of the pandemic on March 5, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced at a news conference on Monday. Movie theaters will only be able to operate at 25% of their maximum capacity, with no more than 50 people per screening.