Welcome to the March issue of CODAmagazine, where we share the best design + art projects from all over the world. The magazine is published once a month by CODAworx.com – we’re an online community for artists and design professionals to showcase their work, collaborate with one another, and earn recognition for their projects.

 

Art for Social Change is the focus of CODAmagazine’s March issue. We called for collaborative design and art installations which raise social awareness, build communities, and engage participants by challenging local and world issues. These are design + art projects that help, heal, and question society. This month, CODAmagazine showcases the 25 projects we thought best exemplified these principles.

Readers of CODAmagazine typically expect beautiful images of amazing artwork.  This issue is not so much about pretty pictures.  Instead, it is about the stories.  Project submitters describe the goals of their projects with passion and feeling.  We encourage you to read the stories behind the pictures to understand how design + art projects are changing the world for the better.

This month’s featured projects include a number of art installations where community members become the real collaborators.  In Ottawa, the local government works with the community to reclaim a public space. In Helsinki, a public soapbox veiled in anonymity invites members of the public to express themselves. In all of these projects, the theme of social change shines through in unique and amazing ways.

This month we worked with Maya Barkai as a special guest artist for our project selection committee. When asked which project spoke to her, she said:

Bob Zoell’s “I Wish I Was Happy” stands out. The artwork challenges our perception of familiar street signs to convey a message, a statement with which the viewer may or may not agree with, but one that highlights the strongest appeal of working in the public realm. By hacking street signs in Los Angeles, the artist is injecting a little humor into our mundane everyday commute while encouraging by-passers to challenge the current political environment, and celebrate individual expression and thought.

It’s a spectacular collection—an example of the incredible things artists and designers can accomplish when they collaborate with others to accomplish social change. We hope you will subscribe to CODAmagazine on Flipboard to receive the best design + art projects from all over the world, delivered to you, free of charge, each month. We look forward to sharing these collaborations with you!
Sincerely,

Toni Sikes, CEO and Publisher
CODAmagazine