About
The Stirred + Simmered Project investigates the people, places, memories and experiences surrounding the recipes found within various communities and groups of individuals. We work with various community organization to uncover the culinary traditions, practices and values that live within particular neighborhoods or groups. By investigating and presenting these culinary narratives we illuminate the diverse collection of cultures, personalities and experiences that define and unite any given group of individuals.
Each year the undergraduate Community Arts Graphic Design class at California College of the Arts partners with community organization to uncover the culinary traditions, practices and values that live within particular neighborhoods or groups. Students then take this learned knowledge and design a collection of visual narratives complete with recipes, stories and collected visual documentation. Here, the designer and their process plays an active role in illuminating and talking about issues of social and economic diversity, culture and migration within communities and the organizations that serve them. The finished design work and recipes are then collected into a ethnographic cookbook which is then self-published and sold to benefit a choice community organization or cause.
The overarching goal of this project is to understand the role food and cooking practices play in the definition and characterization of communities. Recipes, like designed artifacts, are more than the sum of their parts or a means to an end – they can both unveil rich stories and serve a greater purpose in our society. By exploring and presenting these artifacts through design work we exemplify the power and possibility of graphic design to benefit communities, educational needs and social causes through the shaping or influencing of behavior and perception.
The course is part of the ENGAGE at CCA program and is taught by Melissa Ann Martin and Rosanna Yau.
For more information please email:
info@stirredandsimmered.com
