Desert Dispatch is a student-produced publication that uses art and storytelling to raise awareness about food justice and celebrate the diversity of cultures and people in Dayton, OH and beyond. It is produced by students from Glenna Jennings Art and Social Practice course in conjunction with Kathy Kargl’s Graphic Design Practicum and Hsuan Tsen’s art history based course Constructions of Place. The Dispatch is made possible with funding from the University of Dayton Department of Art and Design, Hanley Sustainability Institute, and College of Arts and Sciences and with support from our multiple community partners, who seek to create a more just, equitable and sustainable world.
Desert Dispatch Issue #2 (2020, published 2021) tells stories of Daytonians facing food insecurity by striving for food justice. Photographs were made by Glenna Jennings’ Studio Lighting students and stories were shared as part of the Facing Dayton Project made possible by the Fitz Center for Leadership in Community. Kenya Baker is a longtime friend and community partner of Desert Kitchen, who serves as Executive Director of Unified Power.
Issue #2 shares the story of Ethnosh Dayton, a Collaboratory initiative that celebrates immigrant-owned restaurants and brings together people of all walks of life to sample authentic international cuisine and meet the families that bring deliciousness to their communities.
Our inaugural 2018 issue with cover design by Elli Capellupo shares stories from our Dayton partners and our Moral Courage America the Borderland partners form El Paso, TX and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.
The cover for the 2021 double-issue features design by UD grad Emily Cordonnier based on Professor Misty Thomas-Trout’s Atlas of Dayton: A City In Progress.
The double issue for 2020-2021 was designed by UD graphic design students Jack Kargl and Kasidi Meyers, with stories written by students from Art and Social Practice.