Putting the Pieces Together: Why the Cleveland Fed Studies Economic Inclusion
Perris Mackey, a Northeast Ohio collage artist, and Chris Webb, a Cleveland poet, performer, and filmmaker, partnered with the Cleveland Fed to illustrate why the Bank studies economic inclusion and how it’s necessary for a thriving economy.
The film that accompanies this piece opens with an external shot of the Bank, then cuts to Webb and Mackey entering the Bank’s historic lobby. The viewer hears Webb begin to recite a poem:
A canvas can’t reach its full beauty without every piece in place,
Each texture builds off of another, and each brush stroke has its space.
Our economy’s like a canvas, one that isn’t fully clear,
Because we exclude vital pieces from its image every year.
Webb continues and includes facts and figures from the Cleveland Fed’s Research department. Then the visual shifts to Mackey, who is beginning to create the piece you see here in its final form. Using paper with the very facts and figures Webb is speaking about, Mackey transforms the concept into a physical form.
For the economy to live up to its full potential, all Americans must be able to fully participate in it to the best of their abilities. And when people are able to fully participate in the economy, it can lead to prosperity for all. This is one of the messages the film aims to convey.
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