Land Acknowledgment
Fred Hutch Cancer Center acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples of this land, the land which touches the shared waters of all tribes and bands within the Suquamish, Tulalip and Muckleshoot nations.
Intentional Conversations. Transformative Art.
At Fred Hutch, we have made it our mission to save lives from cancer and related diseases. We cannot achieve this goal without challenging oppression and embracing inclusive and anti-racist practices.
Initiated by the DEI Core, the Public Art and Community Dialogue program provides an opportunity for artists, employees and the broader community to be in dialogue about community solidarity and the pursuit of equity in research and health care.
Ari Campanella
"... I hope that we’re all able to remember each other’s names and the names of everyone who hasn’t been able to make it this far or is thinking that they might not make it much farther. So, if you have somebody in your life who fits under that category or is even just part of the queer community, I encourage you to reach out to them and let them know you remember their name.”
About the Art
Fred Hutch is celebrating and showcasing the artwork of diverse artists within our global community across our South Lake Union campus and in programming activities. Artists selected for the program through open calls will engage in dialogue with each other and Hutch employees and create commissioned work informed by these conversations. These art installations serve to engage other underrepresented communities and create broader and connected messages of solidarity.
About the Dialogues
Stories sustain communities, validate experiences, and connect us to one another. We invite you to watch and reflect on these previously recorded conversations. Artists, panelists, employees and community members share stories and lived experiences related to healing, joy, and solidarity. These conversations drive our commitment to inclusion and inspire our public artwork.
Queer Joy & Thriving: Envisioning Future Health for LGBTQIA+ Communities
Dr. Joe Ungco engages artist Ari Campanella, Fred Hutch employees and community members in conversation centering LGBTQIA+ communities as they reflect on healing, in/visibility, and moving from surviving to thriving.
Healing has to happen in community, it's not an act that happens individually. I could not have created this work on my own. As you look at [the artwork], I hope it creates conversation and inspires many of you and that the Black community feels represented and acknowledged. Africa is here with you and here in Seattle.
Mark Modimola, Public Art and Community Dialogue Artist
Solidarity Statements
View More>In 2020, Fred Hutch raised our banners and flags in support of the social movement that affirms the value of Black life and resists violence and terror against them. Our commitment is expressed in our Statement in Affirmation of Black Lives. This guiding statement is also a call to action and accountability for us, as we stand and work in solidarity with our Black identifying employees and neighbors.
Racism is a public health crisis that we do not ignore in our mission to find cures. We recognize the impact of white supremacy on Black people from the foundation of our country and health systems to the present moment in which the struggle for freedom and dignity remains the paramount concern for the Black community. We desire to be in solidarity with the Black community to resist oppression, anti-Black racism in all its forms, and to honor the humanity of Black people in our scientific excellence as a central feature of our anti-racist efforts.
In response to the guidance of Indigenous tribes, Fred Hutch practices the use of a Land Acknowledgment at the start of all our important meetings. This is not a rote practice, but an opportunity for us to honor the first people of this land and recognize the historical context in which we find ourselves.
The history of colonization has not ended. Further, we see the consequences of colonization on land, people, and in science. Indigenous people are underrepresented in clinical trials and other research, and in the community of scientists and care providers in the healthcare system. Indigenous people are disproportionately impacted by most of society’s ills, including institutional violence and COVID-19. We want to pursue relationship and solidarity with the land and people that resists colonial impacts and repositions us as conscientious guests and neighbors.
In March of 2021, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center released a statement in solidarity with Asian American and Pacific Islander communities in response to rising acts of anti-Asian hate, harassment, murder and terror. We stand firmly against racial oppression in all its forms, including all acts of violence, and we resist the psychosocial violence of denying the reality of racist-motivated crime.
The Hutch calls on our community to support one another; report hate incidents at stopaapihate.org; offer support and encouragement to one another, especially our colleagues and friends in the Asian, Asian American, Pacific Islander community; and continue our own learning about anti-Asian hate.
