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Over spring break, three students from the Design Innovation (DI) Student Fellows Program here at Kent State took part in the 2025 a2ru Emerging Creatives Student Summit in Atlanta, GA. A2ru (Alliance for the Arts in Research Universities) is a community that helps unify arts and arts implementation in higher education with the intent to create cultural change. This year's summit theme, ‘Resonate: Making Waves,’ challenged students to understand different ways in which resonance is built in our society and how we can help facilitate it. Students from high level institutions all over the country came to participate in an interdisciplinary collaborative process to see how they can resonate and make waves in their own communities. Taking place at Georgia Tech’s campus, student participants got a small tour of some of the facilities and got the opportunity to mingle with campus faculty from various departments. Most of the event took place in the CODA building, a mixed-use integrative building that holistically encompasses sustainability, innovative computing technologies, and commercial offices all in one space. 

Jacob Nicholson, a senior UI graphic design major, and his group explored how resonance is reflected throughout time in the spaces we choose to inhabit. This group focused on a site near Georgia Tech with a troubled history related to the civil rights movement and developed a plan for an interactive and immersive exhibition exploring how that site has changed over time, and what we can dream for its future. The presented project included a hand-painted architectural model, an immersive soundscape created from recordings of the area, and a series of interactions designed to connect viewers to the artwork. Jacob's biggest takeaway from the event was, “the fact that there is such a large community of interdisciplinary creatives,” such as himself.

DeAnte Bernard, a senior fashion merchandising major with a minor in business management, collaborated with his group to create a small puppet show production intended to show children how issues and topics in our society can resonate with them through storytelling. Every part of this show, from the intro music, set design, and script was created by his small team. The production also contributed to the world building and moral messages his group wanted the audience to resonate with. For example, one of the characters, Mercedes Bangz, was a personification of the negative effects of overconsumption and capitalism with her name mimicking the famous luxury car brand. Overall, this resulted in a narrative that was easily digestible for children but also had some abstract symbolism that older audiences could extract from the story. DeAnte's greatest takeaway from the event was the ease at which his group assembled, delegated, and collaborated to complete the project. DeAnte noted that, “the collaboration was the easiest part of the weekend!”

Julian Leff, a junior computer information systems major, and his group ideated and concluded that they wanted to explore the ripples within the metaphorical pond of the world. They specifically concluded that the most impactful project would be to explore themes surrounding dystopia, nature, and the Atlanta cityscape. The team’s medium was a short film and song. After collecting footage, the content was placed within a video collage paired with dystopian and industrial music and shown to the summit participants. After reflecting on the experience, Julian expressed that he “grew to have a better understanding of interdisciplinary collaboration, ideation, and overall implementation from idea to product.”

Although this event lasted a mere three days, our students took full advantage of this opportunity to meet fellow peers from across the country and, more importantly, collaborate with the intent to enact true change. This phenomenal opportunity left a lasting impact on all that took part in the event, simply with being able to collaborate and see a different campus, hopefully gaining a profound sense of perspective. 

This opportunity would not have been possible without the help of our fantastic donors John and Fonda Elliot who continue to inspire us with their altruistic contributions. This event served to help our own DI Fellows figure out their place in the world while realizing how they can resonate with a much greater purpose than themselves, in turn creating a better future for all.