Loved and Welcomed 2020

About this project

PIECE Studio decided to create a project to help make students and faculty at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa to understand the power of love, acceptance, tolerance and equality. The Loved and Welcomed initiative took inspiration from Valentine Day cards an from Secret Santa’s. Both cards and gift are anonymous and the not knowing who sent them creates a sense of wonder and love from the recipient.

The University had been experiencing a series of racially motivated incidents that were happening throughout campus. Students were upset and faculty and administrators were trying to do the best they could to react, respond, diffuse and resolve the situation. As you can imagine, morale was low and everyone felt they were living in a powder keg.

PIECE Studio distributed 3,000 Magenta YOU ARE LOVED business cards throughout the university. They were left in classrooms, inside books, in faculty mailboxes, in student lockers, inside coats and left in student desks and faculty and staff work areas. In the following week PIECE Studio distributed 50 Magenta posters that said ALL ARE LOVED.

Three weeks later PIECE Studio distributed 3,000 Cyan YOU ARE WELCOMED business cards throughout the university in the same way as the YOU ARE LOVED business cards were. This was followed a week later with the distribution of 50 Cyan ALL ARE WELCOMED posters.

The entire LOVED and WELCOMED project was documented and it created many conversations where people were asking who was behind this project and how excited people were to receive the cards. Many people placed their cards in special area on their work spaces-by the side of photographs of loved ones or besides gifts that had significant meaning.

At week seven PIECE Studio identified itself as the creator of the project across the university and students, faculty and staff said that this project had been a positive, fun and a celebration of everything that was good.