Christine Gaspar is Executive Director of the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP), a New York-based nonprofit whose mission is to use the power of design and art to increase meaningful civic engagement in partnership with historically marginalized communities. She partners with designers and community organizations to create visually-based educational tools that help demystify complex issues impacting their communities, from zoning law to immigrants’ rights. The projects are designed with and for advocacy organizations to help increase their capacity to mobilize their constituents on important social justice issues. CUP's print, audio, video, and media projects, along with tactile interactive workshop tools, are in use by dozens of community organizers and tens of thousands of individuals in New York City and beyond. The projects have been featured in art and design contexts such as the Cooper-Hewitt Museum's National Design Triennial, PS-1, and the Venice Biennale, and recognized with a Cooper Hewitt National Design Award for Institutional Achievement, the Curry Stone Design Prize, and the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award.
Christine has over fifteen years of experience in community-engaged design. Prior to joining CUP, she was Assistant Director of the Gulf Coast Community Design Studio in Biloxi, Mississippi, where she provided architectural design and community planning services to low-income communities of color recovering from Hurricane Katrina. She holds Masters degrees in Architecture and in City Planning from MIT, and a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University. She is a member of the women's leadership network, Chief and on the board of the Design Futures Student Leadership Forum.
