TAKE THIS! [2023]

TAKE THIS! is a Photovoice exhibition that critically engages questions of economic justice through the lens of guaranteed income. Developed in collaboration with YALift! (Young Adult Louisville Income for Transformation), the project foregrounds the perspectives of five young artists whose lived experiences reflect the impact of economic precarity and the transformative potential of direct cash assistance.

Rooted in the belief that poverty is not the result of individual failure but rather the consequence of systemic disinvestment, this exhibition challenges the narratives that often frame public discourse around social welfare. It interrogates the legacy of economic policies that have historically excluded, marginalized, and disempowered under-resourced communities—particularly young adults navigating conditions of concentrated poverty.

TAKE THIS! utilizes Photovoice as a methodology of community-based participatory research and resistance. Through image and text, participants assert their agency, question structural inequities, and articulate a vision for financial equity that centers their voices. By situating personal narrative within broader socio-economic systems, the exhibition becomes both a document of experience and a call for policy transformation.

This project is presented in partnership with the Hite Institute of Art & Design at the University of Louisville (Professor Mary Carothers), Metro United Way, RPOP (Russell Place of Promise), and The Social Practice Lab.

Special thanks to Professor Mary Carothers (UofL).