MassArt student re-designs the Family Van

MassArt's Center for Art and Community Partnerships, sparc! The ArtMobile and Harvard Medical School "spark" new collaboration

Massachusetts College of Art and Design (MassArt) is pleased to announce that Graphic Design student Jarmila Houstova (Milly, MassArt 2014) ) was selected to redesign Harvard Medical School's Family Van, revealed this week in a community unveiling.  The Family Van, a program of Harvard Medical School, travels to communities throughout Boston each week providing free preventive health services, health education, and referrals to individuals in under-served neighborhoods across Boston. By going directly to the areas in which the need is greatest, the Van removes barriers to care and improves the health of Boston’s most vulnerable residents.

The colorful and vivid new design is the result of a collaboration between The Family Van, MassArt's Graphic Design program and MassArt's Center for Art and Community Partnerships (CACP), a department at the college whose mission is to cultivate innovative, sustainable relationships with the broader community and to explore and expand the relevance of art in public life.  The collaboration was formed in August 2012 when Elizabeth Resnick, Professor (and then Chair) of Graphic Design at MassArt; Jennifer Bennet, Director of the Family Van; and Cecilia  Mendez, Director of CACP met to discuss the possibility of engaging Professor Resnick's Graphic Design 2 class with the redesign of the exterior of the Family Van with a particular focus on attracting Boston Youth.  

For 4 weeks starting in early in September through early October 2012, Professor Resnick's students developed concepts and presented original designs for client Jennifer Bennett, who was present weekly, and a participant in the process. Once the designs were completed CACP enlisted sparc! the ArtMobile, a mobile base for innovative design programs and events in the community.  The sparc! the ArtMobile team led by Ekua Holmes accompanied the Family Van and its staff to Dudley Square, Codman Square, Madison Park High School and East Boston to do what it does best: engage the community and obtain their input on the final designs.

When the results were tallied, the visual proposal by graphic design student Milly Houstova was ultimately selected as the best representation of The Family Van's mission, to "increase access to health and improve healthy behaviors by providing culturally and linguistically appropriate health services" to the communities that it serves.

The public can visit the redesigned Family Van during its regularly scheduled weekly stops at the following locations:

• Monday - 1:00 – 4:00 pm, Dudley Square (in front of Citizens Bank) Bus - Silver line to Dudley

• Wednesday - 10:00 am – 1:00 pm, East Boston, 220 Border Street, across from Liberty Plaza Shopping Center, Bus # 114, 116, 117, 120 from Maverick

• Thursday -10:00 am – 1:00 pm, Codman Square, 577 Washington Street, Bus # 22 on Washington St. / Train - Redline to Ashmont AND 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm, Corner of Dale & Warren Street, 302 Warren St. Roxbury, Bus #28, 23

• Friday - 9:00 am – 12:00 noon, Upham's Corner, 745 Dudley Street, Bus # 15