Every fall senior illustration students at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) create temporary murals at Seventh Avenue and West 28th Street, just down the block from our office. This year over fifty students interpreted the theme, "The future of the human experience." In addition to the yearly theme, the individual murals were inspired by everything from robots and technology, science fiction horror, and the immigrant crisis, to kewpie babies and propaganda art. Visitors can download the Arilyn AR App (on iTunes and Google Play) on their smartphone to enjoy the animation and augmented reality features of the murals.
ChalkFIT 2018
Take an Immigrant’s Journey
Experience Magazine, published by Northeastern University, aims to take readers inside eight immigrant stories, each told through “composite characters but based on real laws and historically documented scenarios.” In the fascinating interactive article, readers are invited to follow their paths and respond to often incredibly difficult choices many immigrants have faced in their lives. The stories introduce the eight characters in various time periods in history and at various stages of their life. They include Margaret (age eighteen) from Ireland starting in 1848; Li Wei (age eighteen) from China starting in 1868; Joyce (age eight) from the Philippines starting in 1990; Yesenia (age twenty-three) from El Salvador starting in 1981; Ama (age twenty-six) from Ghana starting in 1992; and others.
Read moreThe Washington Post: "U.S. will deploy 5,200 additional troops to the Mexican border, officials say"
Department of Homeland Security and Pentagon officials announced Monday that they will send 5,200 troops, military helicopters, and razor wire to the US/Mexican border in advance of the potential arrival of a large group of Central American migrants. This troop deployment, according to the Washington Post, appears to be the “largest U.S. active-duty mobilization along the U.S.-Mexico boundary in decades and amounts to a significant militarization of American border security.”
Read moreTrue Lived Experiences
Museum of Illusions
The Museum of Illusions in New York is an interactive museum featuring optical illusions, holograms, puzzles, and educational games. Located at 14th Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan, the museum promises to teach attendees about “vision, perception, the human brain and science so it will be easier to perceive why your eyes see things which your brain cannot understand.” Highlights of the museum include the Head on a Platter, which (spoiler!) cleverly uses mirrors to create the effect of a decapitated head; the Chair Illusion, which shrinks whoever sits on it using angles of perception; and the Rotated Room, which makes it look like gravity has no effect. It’s all worth seeing before it disappears! (Yes, that was a magic joke).
USCIS: Revised Policy Guidance for the Validity Period of Form I-693, Medical Examination and Vaccination Record
US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS) announced they are revising their policy concerning the validity period of Form I-693, Report of Medical Examination and Vaccination Record, which is used to determine whether an applicant for an immigration benefit is inadmissible under the health-related grounds of inadmissibility. The updated policy, effective November 1, 2018, will require applicants to submit a Form I-693 that is signed by a civil surgeon no more than sixty days before filing the underlying application for an immigration benefit.
Read moreBloomberg Law: “High-Stakes Lottery for H-1B Visas May Become Simpler Next Year”
L. Francis Cissna, director of US Citizenship & Immigration Services (USCIS), has announced that the agency is making plans to simplify the H-1B visa lottery program beginning in 2019 for the 2020 fiscal year. These changes would potentially include an employer’s ability to preregister electronically for the H-1B lottery and, if selected in the lottery, file the H-1B petition with USCIS, instead of submitting full petitions before the lottery is completed. Cissna tells Bloomberg Law that he hopes that the agency will implement changes in time for when H-1B cases can be filed in April 2019, although the agency may not have sufficient time to do so. "[Y]ou don’t have to file and go through the hassle and effort and cost of preparing a full-blast petition,” Cissa says, touting the benefit of preregistration. “I think that’s a lot easier than the current situation.”
Read moreTogether We Stand
Candy Nation
Candy Nation by French sculptor Laurence Jenkell is a series of oversized candies displaying flags of different countries. First exhibited for the G20 Summit in Cannes, France in 2011, Candy Nation is now installed on the Garment District malls on Broadway between 36th and 39th Street as part of Garment District Alliance’s 15th Annual Arts Festival that runs from October 18th to 20th. The nine-foot tall sculptures each weigh 1,450 pounds and are wrapped in polyester resin. Flag featured in the series are from such countries as the US, European Union (plus member countries Germany, France, and Italy), Great Britain, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and many others. Barbara A. Blair, president of the Garment District Alliance, says: “Through her remarkable exhibit, Laurence Jenkell leverages both simple and universal imagery to remind New Yorkers of our global character, right at a moment when such reminders are so timely and valuable.”