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Virginia's Unity Flag to be Displayed at October 22 Presidential Debate
The Robert Nusbaum Center of VWU was selected to create the Unity Flag for the commonwealth, one of 30 state flags designed to promote empathy for bipartisanship
University News | October 19, 2020
In anticipation of the presidential debate at Belmont University in Nashville on October 22, artists and organizations from across the United States were invited to use the American flag and their home states as inspiration to create “unity flags” to promote empathy for bipartisanship. The flags, representing more than 30 states, demonstrate “purple empathy,” a concept indicative of the optical blending of blue and red coming together to engage in bipartisan civil discourse. The flags are on display in the Leu Center for the Visual Arts at Belmont University.
The Robert Nusbaum Center of Virginia Wesleyan University (VWU) was selected to create the unity flag from the Commonwealth of Virginia. Titled “A Beacon of Hope,” the flag includes a lighthouse and heart images as symbols of welcome and hope. Lighthouses have traditionally served as a guide for ships navigating in turbulent seas. They have also become symbols of hope, illuminating darkness and serving as a signpost for the values and virtues that distinguish America as a beacon of light and a safe harbor for people around the world. Virginia’s Unity Flag—created under the artistic direction of VWU branding and design manager Christine Hall—reminds us to remain vigilant in uniting around a vision for a more perfect union, a union in which equality and justice for all rings true.
Belmont University held a virtual gallery presentation on October 8 during which Project Director Dr. Meagan Brady Nelson and other contributing artists discussed the project and selected works. Dr. Brady Nelson serves as the Watkins College of Art Assistant Professor and Program Director of Fine Arts at Belmont University.
“I had the extreme honor of unrolling each unity flag and viewing them first as they arrived,” noted Dr. Brady Nelson. “I became overwhelmed with a feeling of connection and community deeper than I have ever experienced through collaborative art making. Each unity flag is distinctive in its visual meaning and as a collective they help us to understand, become aware of and sensitive to, vicariously experiencing bipartisan discourse.”
For more information visit the Unity Flag Project.