Students in DES186 Environmental Graphic Design have developed and designed an exhibition in conjunction with the 2022–2023 UC Davis Campus Community Book Project which this year focuses on the topic of transformative justice/police reform, and features Defund Fear: Safety Without Policing, Prisons, and Punishment by Zach Norris. 

In Defund Fear, Zach Norris urges us to envision a new way of enacting justice—emphasizing the power of collaboration, empathy, and community building. In perfect alignment with the goals set by Norris, the installation features a series of interlocking stools that form a continuous bench by Jonathan Parris who created them for his UC Davis Design MFA thesis. “Building Your Circle” (2020) functions as a space for the difficult conversations and group work required to enact this new form of restorative justice. This interactive and participatory exhibit paired with Zach Norris’s book and Jonathan Parris’s benches REFRAMES preconceived notions of safety and encourages us to take on new perspectives and approaches to uplift and strengthen our communities. 

The exhibit is on view through March 2, 2023, and was created by students in DES186 W23 Environmental Graphic Design with Professor Tim McNeil, TA Niloufar Abdolmaleki, and supported by the UC Davis Campus Community Book Project and the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts.