JAINA WARREN
stephanie long
The Fall 2025 MFA / CD Thesis Exhibition explores nature, culture, and individual responsibility to land and environment. Through a combination of digital, print, and interactive media, their projects interrogate the notion of “paradise” as both an ecological and cultural construct and Americanized ideas of the garden.
Jaina Warren’s Who Has Access to “PARADISE?” questions who truly has access to paradise in the Caribbean, using tourism as a lens to expose the complex societal structures that shape the region. Through design, Warren tells stories that contrast the idyllic image of paradise with the lived realities of local communities. The show challenges visitors to reconsider paradise—revealing the conflict between how it is lived by locals and consumed by tourists.
Stephanie Long’s Garden as Resistance: Reclaiming Mexican-American culture through participatory design and community collage uses collage and participatory design to explore how Mexican garden principles of biodiversity, community, and spirituality can be an act of resisting generations of assimilation and cultural oppression. Participants attended collage workshops and interviews where they discussed what gardens means to them. Through these activities, the community bonded over family memories and passed along plant knowledge and medicinal practices. In addition, the mixing of materials reflects the diverse but always interconnected nature of Latinx cultural identity. By learning about the role of the garden in Mexican-American culture, visitors are invited to resist the green, suburban lawn for a garden of culture and community.