Elizabeth Catlett's 'Students Aspire' and the Fight for Visibility

Sylwia Serafinowicz's essay, published by Afterall on June 30, 2020, examines Elizabeth Catlett's bronze sculpture 'Students Aspire' (1978) at Howard University as a tool for combating systemic invisibility. The work, commissioned by the Howard University School of Engineering, depicts two Black students—a woman and a man—embracing and lifting a symbol of equality, flanked by engineering emblems. Catlett, who faced racial discrimination when denied entry to Carnegie Institute of Technology despite a scholarship, was selected by faculty, students, and staff from twenty artists. The sculpture's visual language references Vera Mukhina's 'Worker and Kolkhoz Woman' (1937), linking the Black struggle to global solidarity movements. Catlett's earlier series 'The Black Woman' (1946–47) and her 1975 essay 'The Role of The Black Artist' underscore her commitment to public art for liberation. The essay also considers the digital afterlife of the work in online teaching, noting that while digitalization expands reach, platforms like TikTok have interrupted #BlackLivesMatter hashtags. Catlett's legacy at Howard—founded in 1867 by Oliver O. Howard—remains a model for universities as enclaves of equality.