Pedagogical Icons

2019

Working at UCSD’s Center on Global Justice with the mentorship of Professor Teddy Cruz I was tasked with developing icons for a pedological garden mural in the community station of Divina Providencia in Tijuana, Baja California, MX.

These icons went through various stages of brainstorming and editing ultimately with the goal of having them be easily read by community members. The community members interacting with these icons varied in age from toddlers to elders. Therefore, it was important to center the concept of generational knowledge and its passage. Many of the icons touch upon the material reality and issues residents of Los Laureles face including soil erosion, clandestine dumping sites, and water pollution.

It is equally important to develop icons picturing aspirations for it acts as a guide to finding solutions. The intention behind these icons was to start a community dialogue with residents of Los Laureles in search of solution-oriented ideas.

A fruit bowl filled with a watermelon, carrot, and papaya.
A grandma figure icon wearing glasses handing a book to a toddler figure icon.
A mortar and pestle with a leave symbol inscribed on it.
A garbage can overflowing with trash. Some of it on the ground including a plastic soda bottle.
two hands holding an empty plate with four crumbs
a leave-less tree on top of cracked barren soil
A hand places a plastic bottle into a bag. The bad has the recycling symbol three arrows forming a triangle on the front.
Two hands shake and above the hands is a plant blooming. At the bottom of the hand shake are the roots of the plant.
a hand holds and raises a carrot
A gasoline nozzle is dripping gas in the center with a skull marked on its side. It is surrounded by a circle where there is a fish, shark, and kelp bed.
A chemical container with a skull mark on it sprays chemicals through its hose. Around it is a circle with a bird, bee, and butterfly breaking up the circle.
In the middle is a bulldozer with a skull printed on its side. A tree, bird, and squirrel surround it by a circle.

Sketches