The Advanced Ceramics class at Valley Central high school has taken creativity and activism to the next level by creating sculptures inspired by the Articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These powerful student artworks will be featured in an upcoming exhibition at SUNY Orange, showcasing their interpretations of human rights issues through clay.
Exhibition Details:
- Dates: Dec. 3 – 15, 2025
- Location: Orange Hall Gallery, SUNY Orange, Middletown, NY
The exhibition highlights the students’ dedication to understanding and raising awareness about global human rights challenges. Each sculpture reflects a particular article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, focusing on a pressing issue and its impact on individuals and communities worldwide.
Below are the works of three exceptional students whose pieces will be on display:
Student: Isabella
Article Number 2: Freedom from discrimination
“The article that is being violated is Article 2: Freedom of discrimination. I made the sculpture representing how women feel locked in a cage. Women don’t always have the right to make decisions about their own bodies; they are told or forced to do things that they don’t want to do. It should not be the government’s decision whether women can access abortions or other medical care. Women should have the freedom to make these decisions for themselves.”
Student: JC
Article Number 25: The right to adequate standard of living
“This project represents the war on Gaza. Many people in Gaza are being denied basic human rights and access to essential resources, including food, which is a violation of Article 25: The right to adequate standard of living. Reports indicate that thousands of people have suffered from malnutrition and starvation. Gaza is experiencing a level 5 famine. they are being denied basic human rights and access to resources such as food. this is an article 25 human rights violation. According to the UN press, over 453 people have died in Gaza due to starvation and malnutrition. In my sculpture, the person sitting atop the earth is a representation of a Gaza citizen, observing the rest of the world while receiving little aid. The bandages represent the low scale “help” that they have been provided, showing how nothing has improved and they remain a spectacle to the rest of the world.”
Student: Madison
Article Number 19: Freedom of speech & expression
“Article 19 is the freedom to expression and the journalists in Yemen are being punished for trying to use their freedom of expression to report the genocide in Yemen. This is inspired by many journalists in Yemen and their stories of mistreatment trying to report the tragedies in Yemen. Many journalists have been beaten, kidnapped, harassed, tortured, abused physically and sexually, stalked, and killed. Some journalists have fled their country out of fear for their lives. One released journalist has said that a Houthi prison authority told him that “we pray to god by torturing animals.” highlighting the brutality faced by those who try to speak out. This is just one of the horrific examples of the type of things said about the journalists in Yemen. My sculpture represents these journalists’ struggles and the severe consequences they face for exercising their fundamental right to free expression.”
Student: Ava
Article Number 2: Freedom from discrimination
“I created Silenced Protestor to show how protestors are having their voices oppressed while protesting immigration policies happening in LA, and across the country. Article 19 is the right to freedom of expression. In Los Angeles, protests have been occurring in response to increased federal immigration raids and arrests. In my sculpture, I wanted to show the lack of voice protestors have with having a cloth to prevent her from speaking Her head is cut open to show a sign that depicts what she wants to say even if she is unable to speak. Her mouth being covered shows how protestors are being silenced through police actions, including the use of tear gas and physically moving protestors.”
Student: Samantha
Article Number 26: Right to education
“I created this piece to show my explanation on the violation of Article 26: The right to education. This violation shows how women and girls in Afghanistan have been denied access to schools, preventing them from pursuing education at all levels. In this sculpture the base is an open book with a woman sitting looking at the pages. The book represents how women were excluded from all aspects of education from primary schooling to collage. It also shows the school supplies that were not provided for them.”
Student: Alex
Article Number 2: Freedom from discrimination
“I created this sculpture as a way to protest the overturning of Roe v Wade. This violates the human rights violation found in article 2, freedom from discrimination. Women are being discriminated against in the United States by not being allowed abortions, even in cases of sexual assault, cases where the mother would die, and others. I believe that abortion is a fundamental right and that everyone should have the ability to make decisions about their own body. No one should be forced to have a child they are not ready for, or one that was the result of coercion or assault.”
