Florida school uses art displays from around the world to promote diversity and inclusion

Charlayne Hunter-Gault:

On this and many other days, students learn about race, mental health, gender, and disability, all depicted on 50 billboard-sized images created by students and artists from all over the world.

It's all the work of Embracing Our Differences, a local nonprofit, which, in its 19 years, has reached over 475,000 students with this annual exhibition that includes art from students in over 120 countries. This year's theme, enriching lives through diversity and inclusion, illustrates the concerns of many students, including issues of equality, anxiety, the influence of social media, and the aftermath of the pandemic.

Year after year, high school student docents lead hundreds of elementary students, fifth graders on this day, through the works, asking what they see.

How many of you learned from this exhibit? Raise your hands. And how many of you loved it? Raise your hands.

Sarah Wertheimer, the executive director of Embracing Our Differences, told me about the exhibition's timely themes and what it's like to have students back at the exhibit after two years.

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