UW-Green Bay University Union takes home first place in graphics contest at ACUI Region V Conference

Featured artwork from February 2021 of Amanda Gorman

University of Wisconsin-Green Bay staff members and students were awarded first place in the ACUI Region V Graphics Contest, Interior Wall Art category, last weekend at UW Madison. ACUI is an international organization that works with professionals in the college unions and student activities field to provide an inclusive, welcoming community on college campuses.

The University Union’s Equity, Diversity & Inclusion workgroup, which is comprised of four professional staff members and is open to student employees, has implemented a wall art series in the Common Grounds Coffeehouse since February 2021. Inspired by Amanda Gorman’s poem, “The Hill We Climb,” at the 2021 Inauguration, the group has made it a goal to feature young, relevant, inspirational individuals. A digital illustration of the featured person accompanied by a speech, quotes, or biography, adorns the coffeehouse wall on a rotational basis. Once a new piece of art moves in, the old banners can be found in the Christie Theatre.

The University Union’s student employee graphic artists have undertaken the role of creating the artwork. The students who designed the winning artwork, Rachael Kinjerski and Kallie Knueppel, have since graduated.

Check out this month’s coffeehouse feature, Alaqua Cox, who stars in Marvel Studio’s “Hawkeye,” and was born in Keshena, WI, just 40 miles west of UW-Green Bay!