Dessert in the Desert: Oh, you think it's sweet?

31 South Main Street,Dayton OH 45402

02 December, 2022

Description

Join our 6th University of Dayton student-organized art auction, can drive, dinner experience and art exhibition to benefit Unified Power and Gem City Market!Dessert in the Desert: Oh, you think it’s sweet? will take place on December 2nd from 6-9pm at The Hub located in the historic Dayton Arcade. An array of soups will be served for our Empty Bowls initiative, new student photographic works will be available for purchase, and small editioned prints will be gifted to those who donate a non-perishable food item to Food4Flyers, a program of the University of Dayton’s Brook Center. For this year’s event, students from multiple majors have partnered to investigate troubling legacies around the production and consumption of cane sugar. We will celebrate sweetness through locally-sourced desserts and a diverse sweets menu curated by UD dietetics student Christina Green in consultation with London Coe of Peace on Fifth. However, our art objects, designs, and experiences also reveal chattel slavery, human trafficking, environmental degradation, and systemic inequities resulting from colonization, industrial development, political policies and corporate practices. These harmful facts and histories will converge with hopeful artworks within Index Gallery’s Dessert Desert Pharmacy, where guests can learn from our instructive candies and informed “pharmacists.” In our Soup Kitchen, guests may purchase a custom ceramic bowl to enjoy fare from local restaurants, with all proceeds to benefit Unified Power, a Dayton organization focusing on Black businesses and enterprises to “create community pride and self-sustainability through a holistic approach.” Drink purchases will benefit Latinos Unidos, non-profit organization created to ensure Latinos feel welcome and are able to fairly and equitably integrate into society. An art auction will offer creative student photography to benefit an ongoing Desert Kitchen Coalition fund to support Gem City Market art and design needs. All food waste will be composted by The Dayton Foodbank with the help of the University of Dayton’s sustainability student leaders, who are designing a zero waste event. Come join us in this innovative new space where disciplines cross, minds meet, and ideas collide! Enjoy food and drink from local vendors, purchase original holiday gifts, and contribute to the fight against hunger! This exhibition is organized in part by The Desert Kitchen Collective, a growing group of local artists and activists who seek to eradicate hunger, promote food justice, and build awareness around multiple food-related issues. Our event is made possible through the support of the University of Dayton’s Department of Art and Design, the Hanley Sustainability Institute, the L. William Crotty Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, the University of Dayton’s School of Education and Health Sciences’ Dietetics Program, and The Hall Hunger Initiative. The producers and organizers include University of Dayton Associate Professor Glenna Jennings (Photography), Dr. Hsuan Tsen (Art History) and Assistant Professor Geno Luketic (Ceramics).