Celebrating Diversity 2023: Arts & Crafts Contest

[deana]

Here's my entry: my airport flying a pride flag to show that my island (and my heart) is a safe space where diversity is welcome and celebrated

 

[lieryl]

_ _ _
love is love :] it's really that simple

 

[Blink.]

The Joy-Cons bring me joy

 

[Moonlight.]

finally came to terms with being a lesbian after well over a decade of questioning, it's been a wild journey.

ended up using my fave villager lolly <3

 

[ConfusedDad]

i hope this is animal crossing themed enough, i drew humanizations of villagers that had colors that made the LGBTQ+ flag. from left to right, it’s Ketchup, Tangy, Tammy, Mint, Bluebear, Peaches. some of the colors might have gotten a bit blurred out since i had to take a photo of the drawing lol. it might not be animal crossing themes enough so if it isn’t maybe i can submit something different

 

[Chris]

(Chris is it ok of I link the song that inspired this?)​

Go for it!

 

[Valzed]

Entry deleted, not accepted.


Love is love and every one should be free to live their lives as their true selves. ​

 

[Sheando]

My rudimentary art skills strike again! Would you believe I'm approaching 30?

There are a few different things going on here, but the main one is children's rights. A hard concept to draw! I've worked as a teacher and provided trauma-informed care for years before working in the children's department of a library, and the way that we view children in the US is horrendous. Legally they have this kind of middle status between "person" and "property." Some forms of domestic violence toward children are legal and even protected. It is seen as reasonable to expect children to comply with the wishes of every adult in their vicinity. Children and teenagers are expected to do work, in the form of school, for 40-80 hours per week between class time and homework. It is socially acceptable to say that you hate children, to describe them as gross and annoying, to deliberately agitate them so you can film their distress and go viral online, to lie to or manipulate them as a joke for other adults, to touch them without their permission in ways they actively dislike, and so much more.

So this is an Animal Crossing rendition of a society where children aren't segregated into small controlled spaces but are fully integrated into society. Where it's normal for children to help their parents with meaningful, life-giving tasks (not busywork), to have free unsupervised time with other children, to have positive interactions with non-family adults as parallel participants (not just students or some other subservient role), and to vote on matters that directly concern them. A society where children aren't seen as "future people" who must be controlled at all costs and "fixed" until they reach morality, but are welcome as equals in every space that is safe for them to inhabit, one where meeting their needs isn't an afterthought or an exhausting inconvenience, but a responsibility shared by the adults in the space regardless of parenting status.

As an autistic person, I can clearly see how ableism overlaps hugely with ageism on both ends of the spectrum. We hate both children and the elderly for making unexpected noises, being messy, not remembering or understanding types of communication, not being financially productive in a capitalist society, and we also hate neurodivergent and disabled people for many of those things as well! So I also threw in an infinity symbol on the purple cow's dress, as many autistic people use the symbol to represent autistic pride.

Lastly, as much as I love Animal Crossing, it sure doesn't go a long way toward combating gender stereotypes. As a gender nonconforming person myself, I've struggled with assumptions and sexism my whole life. Beliefs about my personality, limits around what I could and couldn't do/be/say, and strict gendered hierarchies. So in this image, every animal has a "personality" outside the eight AC personality types, one not dictated by gender, appearance, or superficial traits. You can't really tell the gender of any of these animals. And that's okay.

 

[Midoriya]

My artistic skills aren't that great, but I did change it up a bit this year.

One day during a cloudy and rainy day, Tazan the Tasmanian Devil is out wondering around, when suddenly he hears crying in the distance. He rushes to go see who it is, and lo and behold, it's Lucky! But why does Lucky feel so down? Well it's because he can't make any friends. No one wants to be around him. Tazan can relate to this strongly, as having autism himself, he feels he's fundamentally different from other animal critters. So what does he do? He offers his hand to Lucky, to pull him up and lift him from the depths of despair. Lucky gets up and the clouds and rain go away as the sun starts to shine through the clouds!

As a novice artist, this picture really resonates with me, as back in grade school I didn't have anyone who wanted to be friends with me, at least not until high school. Part of diversity is recognizing that we are all different, and that not all illnesses can be physically seen. I'm well on my way to earning a lot of money in the future, and my hope is that I'll be able to open up a foundation in the U.S. for people with all kinds of disabilities, including Autism, ADHD, OCD, Dyslexia, ADD, and others. I want to help destroy the stigma around people with disabilities. It only takes one person to reach out to change someone's life. After all, whatever you do for others comes back to help you in the end.

 

[skarmoury]

“ We are so alike but also so different.
I’m really glad I got to meet you guys! ”

The first thing that came to mind regarding diversity was the diverse characters I’ve had in my Animal Crossing games. My first mayor (the blue-haired one), Spring of Vanillix, was from my ACNL town, and she loves snow and lily of the valley flowers. Her favorite villager is Hugh. My second mayor is also named Spring (the pink-haired one), but she’s from the island of Milkiss in ACNH; she loves stars and cherry blossoms and her favorite is Etoile. My third and current mayor (the brown hat girl) is Momo from Tanpopo, also in ACNH; she’s less outspoken than the two, she loves tending to her garden, and her favorite is Bea.

I wanted to portray how each of my characters played similar roles yet have different traits and come from different backgrounds. We are all similarly human, but we each have defining characteristics, and it‘s important for us to come together and celebrate these differences. What kind of person would want to be boxed into rudimentary societal constructs? Witnessing a rainbow is more beautiful than seeing things in black or white.

This piece is very special to me because it also shows my own characteristics (as these are all my characters who share parts of their traits with me). The background is subtle but I also wanted to draw a bisexual-inspired background, as it’s my sexuality as well.

Happy pride month and diversity month to all!

 

[oak]

For my drawing I used Twiggy, Ruby, Diva and Cole to represent the colours of the non binary flag. It's been a wild ride since coming out in 2011 but it was so worth it. Happy pride y'all.

 

[Valzed]

I actually had an idea of something to create and submit! It's really simple but took me forever as I don't have the ability to use a stylus to draw. I use my mouse and line/shape tools. I haven't been on for a few days and haven't seen the other entries until now. I just realized others had the same idea. I'm sorry if my entry is similar to others.

I created a Villager Rainbow. (I wasn't sure if there was an villager that could represent indigo so I just did these six.)
Love is love and every one should be free to live their lives as their true selves. ​

When I posted my entry I could see it and everything was fine. I came on today to look at all the other entries and now my image isn't working. @Chris, may I edit my entry to try to get my image working again? Thank you!

 

[Ravenkitty22]

My art skills aren’t exactly the greatest, but I still wanted to share my story!

Spoiler: Backstory: read first (if you want)

The past year or so has been all about self-acceptance and discovery. I was always the weird kid, who never really fit in or had friends because of my interesting style choices and my hyperfixations on various media, usually involving some sort of fantasy element. I used to pretend to like things I actually hated because I was so desperate for friends. But that was the only thing I had to deal with, and besides, people can be really stupid sometimes.

Until it wasn’t. Covid hit, and for some reason, being alone wasn’t as great when it was all you could do. Followed by a big move, realizing I’m not crazy and my family isn’t the greatest, and this whole new sexuality thing (who would’ve thought I’m not straight?)… yeah, it was a lot. For some reason, a year ago, I thought it was because of me. I thought I’d done something wrong to cause all of this. I wish I could tell past me how wrong she was.

I guess the whole self-discovery thing started when I realized someone I called my best friend was incredibly toxic. I used to act a lot like her because I thought she was so cool. She was an actor and a model, and she was so confident, but she still had weird interests like me. But once I figured out how fake she was, I was alone again. Not the bad kind of alone though, the kind of alone where you have time to think things like this through. I’m really glad I did, because I’m in a pretty decent spot right now. I have people who share the same interests as me, who I can just be weird with just because. And one of those people, I feel lucky enough to call my favorite person. Even the people on this forum, while we don’t talk outside here, have been amazing and I’m lucky to be here. All because I’m being my true, authentic self, and not trying to be someone else.

So how does this relate to diversity? And how does it explain the picture? I drew myself in Animal Crossing style, wearing an outfit that’s become a classic of mine (love the hoodie/cuffed jean shorts/converse combo lol) with a shirt with the demisexual flag and holding the genderfae flag. The accessories have meaning as the fandoms (besides AC) that have been really important, especially recently. The golden snitch necklace represents Harry Potter, the pokeball on my backpack for Pokemon, the calamity gems from Amphibia, and the word “Lumity” on the second pocket for The Owl House. The villagers around me are some of my favorites, varying in size and popularity, that form the omniromantic flag. The background is a collection of some of my favorite colors: seafoam green, light blue, royal blue, indigo, and purple. Lastly, the quote, which just summarizes this self-discovery era and symbolizes that I finally feel comfortable in my own skin. Yes, I have issues to work through, but I’m not changing myself for anyone anymore, and I’m happy I don’t feel like I need to.

Because I am who I am, and if you don’t accept that, the door’s right there.

 

[nightglow]

I drew myself as an animal crossing villager person with some added features to help express myself a bit more such as my little hair strands that always poke out and my chubby-ness. I also added a few symbols that pertains to me.
I feel like the symbols are pretty direct, but I'll go over them briefly anyway.
I live in the USA. Purple ribbon with butterfly is for Fibromyalgia. The gender rings are for heterosexuality. The vague xbox controler is to represent video games which I really like. And the cross fish represents my spirituality. It is probably the most complex symbol because the topic is complex.

 

[Zerous]

Ahhh these entries have been amazing so far!!
Thank you for having a long entry time, now that my exams are over I can try to make something!!
Opting for traditional this year as my computer just broke

 

[Mr_Keroppi]

My friends and I all have fun making little bead characters together so I thought it would be a bit more unique to do a craft project rather than a drawing like everyone else! I put out a red cloth and made Isabelle, Bunnie, a red flower, two oranges, an apple, a lantern, and a Dragon! Fruit and lanterns are very important in Asian cultures, especially oranges! Bunnie is based off of a technique of cutting apples to look like rabbits so I included her and a red flower! This was really fun and I am loving everyone's entries so good job friends!
I hope this counts as its more like a few seperate crafts turned into a scene rather than one sooo ​

 

[daringred_]

never been a stellar artist, but i gave it my best.
if only the whole thing looked as good as that tree trunk

decided to draw my main oc (who's also my island rep.) and her girlfriend for this. it's a shame that even today, lesbian continues to be treated like a dirty word and that good wlw representation can still be hard to come by (especially in certain genres) when shows like the wilds, first kill, warrior nun etc. are cancelled despite having good viewership and reviews. even in today's fandom spaces, i still find myself being ridiculed just for shipping two female characters, and while i try my best to ignore it, i can't pretend it isn't a little discouraging at times, even making me hate (and struggle to re-accept) my sexuality earlier this year. i only hope that attitudes and representation will improve sooner rather than later, and that we'll all able to see ourselves in characters/stories we enjoy and feel no shame in it.​

 

[Yanrima~]

A (slight) follow-up to my entry in the previous contest.
(Might as well make a wholesome interaction with my duck villager and the villager canon to Animal Crossing games.)

Wilkins the cranky duck finally found a friend that he will stick by. Because of Wilkins' willingness to make new friends despite his struggles with socializing, Roald offered Wilkins help in navigating through life's obstacles. Roald is the opposite of Wilkins (having a jock personality), being outgoing and having a very active personality. Together with their different backgrounds and points of view, they share their views in life and learned how to settle their differences and make peace with one another.

Since they both love video games, they usually exchange their interests and topics relating to games. It shows that there were hobbies that could bring different people together.

 

[Xara]

no matter who you are, where you came from, or where you go; wardell will always save a spot on the beach for you

i completed 2/3 of my culminating assignments back-to-back, so i thought this’d be a good time to punish treat myself by pulling an all-nighter and getting this done i am so tired lol, but i’m kinda proud of how this turned out! i had a few ideas for my entry, but i really just wanted to draw some homies coming together to enjoy a nice view

also, in case it’s too small: my name is on the left cloud lol

​

Spoiler: explanations 🌈

from left to right:

the character on the far left is my island rep, and the colours she’s wearing + the flag next to her represents my place in the lgbtq+ community. for last year’s celebrating diversity contest, the villager persona i created represented questioning, because while i was 100% sure i was somewhere in the community, i didn’t know where exactly. this year, i’m still figuring things out, but i think i‘m finally starting to get a grasp on who i am. the colours of my island rep’s sweater represents the pansexuality flag; pansexual is the sexuality that has always felt the most like me, but i’ve been hesitant to openly identify as it because while gender doesn’t play a part in who i am romantically attracted to, i am more-so drawn to people who aren’t cis males. the “oh, so you’re attracted to pans?” comments are also annoying lol. i’m ready to change this, though, because it would be a disservice to myself to hide who i am just to avoid comments from others. me being prominently romantically attracted to some gender identities over others doesn’t make me any less valid, because at the end of the day i love who i love for the way they make me feel and who they are as a person, not what they identity as.

i have also recently come to the conclusion that i am demisexual. i have been identifying as full-on asexual for the past few years, but it never really felt like me. i’m still figuring this part of myself out, but demisexuality feels much more like me. :’)

wardell my beloved is most definitely an ally, and he does not mind who you are, where you come from, or what you identify as as long as you’re kind. the trevor project released a line of custom clothing designs to raise awareness about lgbtq+ youth suicide, and i drew wardell adorning the beanie that they created. to me, pride month is equally about celebrating and embracing who you are as it is about uplifting those in the community and raising awareness for/acknowledging the horrors of the past and future, and that includes the lgbtq+ youth suicide rates. the statistics will vary depending on where you get your research from, but the consensus is the same - those in the community are at a higher risk. not because of what they identify as, but because of how society and those around them treat them because of it. this is something that is extremely important to me personally, and so i wanted to include it in my entry in some way.

my girl whitney represents bisexuality. i don’t usually headcanon sexualities for villagers since it kind of makes me feel weird, but i have a headcanon for my island that whitney and sprinkle are friends who are constantly balancing on the line between being besties and girlfriends. i also keep the lore from the animal crossing movie in mind that whitney and apollo used to date, and so… bisexual queen

lastly, the girly on the far right represents homosexuality, as well as disability (can you tell it’s my first time drawing a wheelchair LOL). the majority of lgbtq+ representations i’ve seen (not just on her) show people and characters in the community who are able-bodied, and that isn’t always the case. sometimes you gotta be who you are in a wheelchair, or while sporting a walking cane, or a prosthetic etc, and that’s okay.

my entry is a simplified version of what i would love to do. i would love to include representations of all sexualities and identities, and all ethnicities, and all walks of life in general, but art skill and time restraints say no lol. i think it would also be impossible to include everyone, since the beauty of diversity is that even if we’re a part of the same community, we are still all different from one another, and that’s wonderful. even if your representation isn’t here, who you are is so important and valid no matter what; don’t doubt that.

 

[Aquilla]

・‥…━━━☆ ☆━━━…‥・

​

I work with children in primary school and wanted to reflect the diversity in my classroom through this. I assigned an animal to each continent, taking into consideration habitat maps and historical development of each species to find an animal that represents large parts of each continent. The various pride flags and awareness ribbons represent parts of the identities of my friends, family, my students and myself.

Animals, Flags and Ribbons key:

Wolf - Europe

Koala - Oceania

Tiger - Asia

Lion - Africa

Anteater - South America

Beaver - North America

Penguin - Antarctic

Polar bear - Arctic I am aware that the Arctic is not considered a continent but I couldn't draw Aurora all alone ;u;

LGBTQ+ flag

Aro-Ace flag

Non-binary flag

Transgender flag

Lesbian flag

orange ribbon: ADHD awareness
puzzle ribbon: Autism awareness
green ribbon: mental health awareness

・‥…━━━━━━━☆ ☆━━━━━━━…‥・​