Christine Gaspar, executive director Christine Gaspar discusses her work as executive director of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), a New York–based nonprofit whose mission is to use the power of design and art to increase meaningful civic engagement, particularly among historically underrepresented communities. Gaspar partners with designers and community organizations to create visually based educational tools that help demystify complex issues impacting their communities, from zoning law to immigrants’ rights. The projects are designed with and for advocacy organizations to help increase their capacity to mobilize their constituents on important social justice issues. CUP's award-winning print, audio, video, and media projects, along with tactile interactive workshop tools, are in use by dozens of community organizers and tens of thousands of individuals in New York City and beyond. For more information and updates, visit artsdesign.berkeley.edu. Biography: Christine has over fifteen years of experience in community-engaged design. Prior to joining CUP, she was Assistant Director of the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio in Biloxi, Mississippi, where she provided architectural design and community planning services to low-income communities of color recovering from Hurricane Katrina. She holds Masters in Architecture and in City Planning from MIT, and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University. In 2012, she was identified as one of the “Public Interest Design 100.” She has taught at Parsons, Pratt, SVA, and Mississippi State University. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Arts + Design Thursdays @ BAMPFA is made possible thanks to support from the Big Ideas Courses Program in the College of Letters & Science at UC Berkeley and from generous supporters of Berkeley Arts + Design. In-kind support is provided by BAMPFA.