Zoe Broerman

Art and Visual Culture

3234 Frederiksen Court, Ames IA 50010
641-425-6710
broerman@iastate.edu
Project Title: Maladies of Humankind
Media: Photography
Amount Requested: $600
Project Advisor: Jennifer Drinkwater
098 Design
jd1@iastate.edu

Abstract:
I will create a photography-based series that shows the troubles that people who have been sexually
assaulted go through throughout their life. The goal of this series is to help survivors with their
healing process and give them a way to tell their story by including a small statement written by them
about their struggles. Each print will be printed on canvas in black and white at 30 x 40 with a title
card beside each canvas.

Theme:
I want to help reduce the stigmas surrounding people who may be wrongly viewed as broken by
society due to their struggles. In addition to that, my second objective is to offer survivors an outlet to
express themselves through image and print. I will capture the raw emotion of their situation through
photographs while interviewing the survivor and choose the best one. I want to recreate a scene that
depicts their memory of the incident or their ways of coping in order to affect the viewer the greatest
and cause more intense emotion and personal reflection. Symbolism using props may be
implemented. The images will not directly show the survivors face for confidentiality reasons,
unless consent is given.
My end goal within the next couple years is to photograph 100 people who have overcome various
hardships and have the images compiled into a book. If the survivors are willing, I would also like to
do a follow-up photography session and discuss their healing processes.
For the Focus Grant show, I would concentrate on sexual assault and rape survivors, and aim to
interview and photograph 10 different survivors. The pieces will be displayed hung on a gallery wall
with a card installed beside each image with:
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o
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the survivors name (first name, preferred alias, or listed as anonymous)

their current age
the malady they struggle(d) with
the timespan (year/s) when they were faced with that struggle
an optional statement about their struggle, a poem, or message they would like to say

Project Background:
To my grant application, I have attached a flyer that I have written up that will be displayed on the
notice boards around campus in all the individual colleges and at the Memorial Union
(approximately 50 flyers). The following statistics were taken from Iowa States webpage for the
Police Department, the Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault, the White House Council on Women
and Girls, and a recent article titled Sexual Assault is Our Problem released by Iowa State Daily on
April 1st, 2015.
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1 in 5 women and 1 in 31 men will be sexually assaulted in their lifetime

College-age women are 4 times more likely to be sexually assaulted
80% of women who have been raped experienced the first rape before the age of 25
Only 12% of sexual assaults on college students are reported to law enforcement
Most sexual assaults are committed by someone known to the victim

Iowa State University Police Department Reported Sexual Assaults:

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2011 7 reports
2012 12 reports
2013 20 reports
2014 10 reports

As of March 2015, there have been 5 reported sexual assaults so far in 2015. These numbers listed
above do not include numerous cases reported to the Ames Police, or those gone unreported. Sexual
assault and rape are a hot topic in the media, bringing to light the poor handling of sexual assault
cases reported to university officials at various colleges across the United States, including Iowa
State University.
Project Unbreakable is an online movement that encourages survivors of sexual assault and rape to
send in images of themselves, often with signs, telling their story and raising awareness of the plight
that is sexual assault. The movement travels around the country speaking at schools, but the majority
of the public do not know about Project Unbreakable. I hope that by showcasing my own images and
the survivors statements, I could bring a greater section of the public around to face the issue (at the
Focus Show) of sexual assault and rape.
At the Rebecca Randall Bryan Art Gallery, three paintings by Allison Dunavant were shown
depicting the before/during/after images of a woman who had been raped. The results that came by

showcasing her graphic paintings ranged in anger and indignation by people offended by the graphic
content, to wonder, to praise by survivors who saw her work and appreciated her efforts to raise
awareness. Such strong emotions need to be created everywhere, to bring more individuals into the
discussion on rape prevention. The survivors found that someone understood them, that they were not
alone. That, if nothing else, warrants displaying the work.

Expected Outcomes:
I expect my series to make people uncomfortable, upset, or even angry. Society prefers to ignore the
issues that are faced daily by the average citizen. It is easier to brush cries for help aside, to treat
mental issues with drugs rather than kindness and to blame the victim for their malady by calling
them weak or overly-sensitive or liars. I hope to bring to light the diversity of conditions I listed
above and make people rethink their preconceived opinions on abuse, assault, mental ailments,
financial strife, and more. For the Focus Grant show, I will raise awareness of the intense physical
and emotional effects that rape and sexual assault survivors go through daily after their experiences.

Projected Costs:
30 x 40 canvas print from Easy Canvas Prints: $61.07 each
Cardstock from Copyworks in Ames, IA: $0.20 per sheet
Canvases: $610.75
Shipping: $41.59
Cardstock: $2.00
Total = $654.34

Timeline:
Apr., 2015:

Print out copies of the Maladies of Humankind pamphlet and

begin continuing to inform survivors of the project who contact me
about participating..

May, 2015:

Order a print from Easy Canvas Prints to test the quality of the
company

May-Aug., 2015:

Contact, photograph, and interview local survivors of rape, sexual

assault, and other maladies listed on the flyer.

Sept. (TBD), 2015:

Visual progress review.

Sept. 15th, 2015:

Written progress report due.

Sept.-Dec., 2015:

Attempt to interact with Italians in Rome and document their

stories/maladies for a more diverse portfolio. May not be able, only
a possibility.

Jan., 2016:

Final interviews with survivors if needed. Send images to be

printed off, stretched, and shipped by the end of January to allow
two months for shipping.

Jan.-Feb., 2016:

Type up and finalize the cards that will be included with each
image.

Feb. (TBD), 2016:

Visual progress review.

Mar. 21st, 2016:

Focus Grant deadline. Turn in the project.

Applicants Background:
I am studying furniture design through the Arts and Visual Culture department. I have taken the
200-level photography class and understand the basics of photography. Below are black and
white images I took during the 200-level photography class and an example of a profile I took
for a different class.