Schools
Photography Project Calls Attention to Marin’s Education Inequity
Marin may have been designated as the most educated county in the state, but in San Rafael's Canal district, half the residents don't have a high school education.
By Bay City News
A Dominican University of California art project recently debuted aims to call attention to educational inequality in Marin County.
The "INSIDE OUT-Educational Equity in Marin" project features 3-by-5-foot portraits of Dominican students, San Rafael High School students and young mothers and their children that will be affixed to a freeway underpass at Bellam and Francisco boulevards in San Rafael.
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Most of the black and white photos are of teen mothers with children in San Rafael's Canal district, Dominican University spokeswoman Sarah Gardner said.
The moms were present when the 27 photos were pasted to the freeway underpass Friday afternoon to speak about the educational equality means to them and the hopes they have for their children, Gardner said.
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Marin County was recently designated the most educated county in the state, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and one of the most educated areas of the country, Gardner said.
Half the residents in the Canal district, however, do not have a high school education, Gardner said.
The INSIDE OUT art idea was inspired by a French street artist who called for people around the world to turn the world "inside out" by sharing a photo portrait and a statement about what they stand for, Gardner said.
Similar INSIDE OUT projects have been created in 9,500 locations in the U.S. and other countries.
The San Rafael INSIDE OUT project, the only one in the North Bay, will measure 10-by-80 feet and will be on display for six weeks.
Lynn Sondag, chair of Dominican University's Department of Art, History and Design, said the project "aims to make the faces of our invisible youth visible as well as the geographic boundaries that often divide the loses from the gains."
Click here to see the personal narratives of the photography subjects.
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