On February 1st, the Emily Carr Institute of Art + Design hosted a hybrid GDC event; a poster exhibit featuring a keynote speech by its curators, and our own Annual General Meeting.

Toni O’Bryan and Larry Richard took us on an enchanting tour of Cuba illustrated by photographs, cultural anecdotes, and a historical account of the origins of their Cuban-USA Poster Design Exhibit, Shared Dreams. Reaching across borders and cutting through a 1963 diplomatic and commercial embargo, Toni and Larry have found a way to reunite Americans and Cubans through their love for peace, collaboration, and poster design.

What began as a project of the AIGA’s Center for Cross-Cultural Design has turned into a life-changing phenomenon for Toni, Larry, and all of the people that have been able to make a meaningful connection across the Cuba-USA divide.

Toni is no stranger to using design as a tool for social change; her studio, Kaching Creative, dedicated itself to developing creative solutions for clients committed to positive social, and environmental change – a movement that more and more designers are becoming a part of (not a moment too late). One needs only to look at the growing power of the LOHAS sector, an estimated “$227 billion market segment in the United States alone” ^[1] to understand one of the reasons why.

The night was one for celebration: of Cuban culture; of American compassion; of the 50th anniversary of the GDC; of the arrival of many new passionate and driven BC Mainland Executive Council members; and finally of a landmark announcement by the Emily Carr Institute.

As a result of several conversations between the GDC and the Emily Carr Institute, coupled with the generous support of Ken Hughes (Head - Communication & Industrial Design, Academic Administration), the GDC/BC now has an office space at the school! These four walls and a door will support our operation and will act as a hub for all educational institutions in BC to work together through the GDC. For the first time ever, the GDC/BC will have a mailing address, and a place to call home.

Thank you ECIAD, and thank you Ken. Cheers to the GDC/BC in 2007!