Amar Haidar’s winning mental-health illustration is official conference art
In the last month, HFC student Amar Haidar won first place for the Graphic Design/Illustration category at the 36th annual Liberal Arts Network for Development (LAND) Conference, a statewide community college competition. View a complete list of winners here.
This year’s theme was “Successful Failures.” In Haidar’s case, her illustration represented the two faces of mental health. There are two different personas someone suffering from a mental illness presents: The first is the one he or she shows to the world, pretending they’re fine; the second is the one of he or she suffering in silence.
“Mental illness is a successful failure in and of itself. If you stay alive, you show that you’re successful. The more you strive, the more successful you are,” explained Haidar. “Several close friends of mine have suffered from some form on mental illness. I wanted to bring light to the stigma behind mental illness. I wanted to use this project to bring awareness to that within the community.”
In fact, her artwork is appearing on LAND Conference merchandise currently on sale. It can be seen on hoodies, sweatshirts, T-shirts, coffee mugs, tote bags, et al.
“I’ve seen people wearing my design, which is pretty cool,” said Haidar.
Encouraging art faculty nurtured Haidar
A lifelong Dearborn resident, Haidar graduated from Ford High School in 2018. She is currently studying graphic design at HFC and plans to transfer this fall to Wayne State University in Detroit, where she will continue her education. Haidar will work toward her bachelor’s degree in graphic design at Wayne State.
The third of four children, Haidar’s older brothers, Ali and Mustapha, also attended HFC and enjoyed their experiences at the College.
“My brothers had such a great experience at HFC and recommended it highly to me. I heard a lot of good things about HFC, especially the art program. I decided HFC would be a good place to start, and then I’ll transfer to Wayne State,” she said. “I want to thank my teachers at HFC for being encouraging and sticking with me throughout. I’m very appreciative of them and all of their efforts.”
Other LAND Winners
Besides Haidar, other LAND winners who attend HFC include:
• John Adams: Adams won honorable mention in the Graphic Design/Illustration category for his artwork, “Many Global Issues.”
• Doha Youssef: Youssef won honorable mention in the Photography/New Media category for “Refraction of Love (Response to Rania Matar).”
• Malak Cherry: Cherry won honorable mention in the 2D Category for “Old Man Drinking Tea.”
• Yasmeen Berry: Berry won second place in the Student Film Contest for her entry, COVID-19 PSA: Story of the Undead.
• Ron Soyk: Soyk was one of six winners in the Student Scholars category for his entry, “What Happened to My Neighborhood: Living With Blight.”
HFC faculty members also presented at this year’s LAND Conference:
• HFC music professor G. Kevin Dewey gave a presentation, “Virtual Music in the C19 Classroom.”
• HFC digital and graphic arts instructor Karen Larson-Voltz gave a presentation, “Inversions, Small Successes and Big Rewards in Studio Practices While Remote.”
• HFC biology professor Subhashini Chandrasekar gave a presentation, “My Best Question.”
LAND’s mission
The mission of LAND is to develop and promote a network for strengthening liberal arts education across Michigan’s 28 community colleges. LAND sponsors five student competitions to recognize outstanding student work in the liberal arts: student scholars, creative writing, illustration, fine arts, digital literacy, and short film. Community college students across the state of Michigan entered approximately 80 pieces of art in various media in the LAND Conference.