Students who created concepts for a sustainable beehive, a winding brick wall symbolizing Chicago’s “Welcoming City Ordinance,” and a museum honoring the city’s history of activism are the three winners of The Art School’s inaugural Virtual Monument & Memorial Design Competition, first announced in September.

Kellstadt Graduate School of Business student Michael Johnston, The Theatre School student Izaak Kary and College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences student Luis Valenzuela Jr. each received financial awards.

“Part of the criteria was to lean into our university’s Vincentian values by thinking inclusively about our entire community, and that’s something all three winners were able to do,” says Matthew Girson, a professor in The Art School who conceived and oversaw the competition.

Girson hopes the competition can be held on a bi-annual basis.

“I’m convinced this is a great project that is ripe for community building, and I think that the more ways we can get people thinking creatively about our shared spaces, inventing different ideas and sharing them with each other, the healthier our community becomes.

“Lastly, I want to express my gratitude to the donors who supported this project, especially DePaul Board of Trustees Vice-Chair Sasha Gerritson and her husband, Eugene Jarvis, for their generous donation. I also want to thank Meredith Anderson, a 2026 Art School graduate, who designed the competition website,” Girson adds.

More information about the competition can be found here. Learn more about each winner and their monument or memorial below:

Michael Johnston | "The Hive of Harmony"
Kellstadt Graduate School of Business (MBA)
“The Hive of Harmony” is a proposed environmental sustainability monument for DePaul’s Lincoln Park Campus. Designed as a sculptural tree canopy, the center would be a safely enclosed observation beehive surrounded by a native pollinator garden, supported by solar energy and rainwater collection to create a self-sustaining ecosystem. The monument would encourage visitors to learn about the essential role of bees in biodiversity and food systems.

“I became interested in beekeeping when I was younger after we created a pollination prairie at school by building several hives. During that process I learned about the alarming rate at which bees are dying and it really led to a passion hobby of mine,” Johnston says. “We built a bee community at home, and I would work at the school summer camp teaching children about the importance of bees. I thought creating a bee community on the Lincoln Park Campus would help teach students about the importance of bees and sustainability.”

Izaak Kary | "The Overturned Impediment Monument"
The Theatre School (Scene Design)
“The Overturned Impediment Monument" is a proposed winding wall of 1,985 bricks with a stone sitting area that would honor former Chicago Mayor Harold Washington’s “Welcoming City Ordinance,” which was signed into law in 1985. The bricks would be “Old Chicago Bricks” recycled from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Like the city itself, the monument welcomes visitors to sit and reflect.

“I felt really called to Chicago’s ‘Welcoming City Ordinance,’ which acknowledges the city’s roots as an immigrant city and a place that was built on the strength of its immigrant communities,” Kary says. “I chose a method of laying bricks called ‘crinkle crankle,’ which lays the bricks in a wavy formation. It looks like a ribbon on its side. A ‘crinkle crankle’ technique is much stronger than a typical straight wall because it has its own support built in. You can’t just push on one side and make it fall over. It uses fewer bricks, but they lock together. That felt like such a great metaphor for my outlook on community. We are stronger together.”

Luis Valenzuela Jr. | "The Rainbow Factory"
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (Art, Media, and Design)
“The Rainbow Factory” is a design of a three-floor museum that would honor Chicago’s history of activism, challenge visitors to imagine a world with equal justice for all and dare them to make it a reality. Called The Rainbow Factory, it honors Chicago’s original Rainbow Coalition, a multi-racial political organization founded in 1969 and composed of the Black Panthers, the Young Patriots and the Young Lords.

“I think something that will stick with me going forward is the effect being involved at the local level and connecting with your neighbors has on creating a more thoughtful and caring neighborhood,” Valenzuela Jr. says. “That’s what the Rainbow Coalition taught. The original members dared to imagine a better world and fought to create a world where the people were united, autonomous and empowered. If The Rainbow Factory was built in real life, I would want it to expose visitors to what activism has happened and could happen and help them reimagine a future that is more free, diverse and open.”