ARTIST STATEMENT
I developed the concept and initial sketches for this piece in late 2024 while completing my degree at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. That year was marked by countless disheartening experiences within large institutions—places where I had once invested my hopes for growth, activism, and the elevation of individual voices. Instead, I found these institutions often stood in stark contradiction to my own values. Public school systems continued to fail both students and teachers. My own school accepted donations from wealthy benefactors who simultaneously funded the genocide of the Palestinian people, all while sidestepping fair unions for their workers. The truth is, we cannot entirely free ourselves from institutions unless we remove ourselves from society altogether. However, it’s vital to remain grounded in our roots and individuality, resisting the illusions these systems create to make us believe they truly care for those doing the hard work on the ground. This is what I mean when I say: “Institutions are a hypocritical monopoly in a society that claims to value education yet actively resists progressive change.” We live within systems that publicly champion ideals like critical thinking, equity, and growth, yet behind closed doors they maintain power structures that undermine these very principles. By calling institutions a “hypocritical monopoly,” I am naming how they dominate the very spaces—education, art, community—where transformation should thrive, all while clinging to outdated, oppressive systems that ensure true change is always just out of reach.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Meg Johnson is a West Michigan native based in Grand Rapids. They earned a BFA with an emphasis in Art Education from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Now back in Grand Rapids, Meg teaches middle school art full time in Grand Rapids Public Schools. They also work with The Diatribe, teaching poetry and soon art activism, and with Arts In Motion, where they guide teens and adults with disabilities in creative expression—all while maintaining an active personal studio practice. They firmly believe that education is a form of activism. Meg’s artistic work centers on exploring complex emotional and social dynamics rooted in personal experience. Themes such as complex trauma, mental health, identity politics, feminism, and the examination of societal constructs are recurrent in their conceptual imagery. Through this engagement, they’ve discovered a therapeutic release and a space where the limitations of words give way to the eloquence of the visual and tactile world. Each piece Meg creates carries a narrative thread intimately tied to specific moments or profound emotions in their life, serving both as a reflection of daily experiences and a means to preserve pivotal moments that might otherwise slip into obscurity. While deeply personal, their work strives to translate these narratives into a universal language, inviting others to find resonance and meaning within each visual story.
© Meg Katherine Johnson