The mission of Pieces and Paintings is to remind the world of the basic tenets of learning & understanding and that the one thing that ties them together is empathy. Right now, the world needs empathy more than ever in all aspects of life, which we have highlighted in our program. As young adults that were born in the early 2000s, we have seen the world around us completely forget about empathy and we firmly believe the key to fixing everything that has broken is highlighting such an understanding.

Our writer, Emma Carroll, began the process by producing a series of poems & short stories that communicate our mission through different facets engrained in everyday life. Each of our six talented artists took on one of Emma’s pieces and created corresponding art to visually convey our mission. Britney Nguyen and Una Sung then composed music scores to tie in both Emma’s writing and each artist's visuals. This project became known as Fusion, a title inspired by Harlem Renaissance figurehead Countee Cullen’s poem “Any Human to Another” that conveys the significance of human connection. This artistic title staunchly represents the members of Pieces and Paintings’ values and beliefs—that the answer to all of our problems can be found when we all come together.

Each written & visual piece aims to put the pieces back together by showing the power of fusing ideas, emotions, and differences.