2022 Kusske Lecture & Dialogue: Ron Finley

Most widely known as the “Gangsta Gardener”, Ron Finley inadvertently started a “Horti-Cultural” revolution when he transformed the barren parkway in front of his South Central Los Angeles home into an edible oasis. Ron unexpectedly became one of L.A.’s most widely known artivists. Frustrated by his community’s lack of access to fresh, organic food, Finley started a revolution when he turned the parkway in front of his home into an edible garden in 2010. Ron’s goal was simple: bring healthy food to an area where there was none, making him see first hand how gardens build community and change people’s lives. This experience blossomed into a quest to change how we eat and to teach youth that they have the capacity to design the life they want to live, not the one that’s been designed for them.

Linsey Griffin specializes in the development of wearable health and safety products. She has conducted research with organizations including the UMN Medical Center, Park Nicollet Health Services, 3M, and NASA. Her perspectives are informed by eight years of international apparel industry experience in the United States, England, South Korea, India, and Spain. She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in apparel studies and a B.S. in textile and apparel design.

Carlye Lauff’s research is in design theory and methodology. She studies how designers engage in the product development process and then improves tools and methods to support them. Carlye works at the intersection of multiple disciplines including engineering, product design, education, management science, and the social sciences. She often draws on qualitative and mixed-methods research and collaborates across diverse disciplines. Carlye earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, as a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow studying the role of prototypes in companies.

Terresa Moses is dedicated to the liberation of Black and brown people through art and design. As a designer and illustrator, her work focuses on race, identity, and social justice. She advocates for positive change in her community using creativity as a tool of community activism. Her research interests include the creation of spaces to educate, connect, and empower Black women about their natural hair and self-identity and Racism Untaught, a curriculum model that reveals “racialized” design and helps create antiracist concepts through the design research process. Terresa holds a Ph.D. in social justice education, a M.F.A in design research, and a B.F.A. in fashion design.