What does hell look like and who is it for? These are important questions, especially during this tense political climate. Ellen Wetmore, Professor of Art at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell, visited MSU and the Ingham County Youth Center (ICYC) on March 31st and April 1st and gave students, faculty, and community members an insight into her fascinating artwork and her artistic engagement to promote social justice.

Ellen Wetmore is the author of the graphic novel Dante, A Divine Comedy (2023) that she created together with Jiba Moleil Anderson (letters, development, and editing). Contrary to its medieval model, Dante, A Divine Comedy examines American constructs of race and of academia, echoing Sartre’s notion that we create our own hell, and live in it.

On Monday, March 31st, Professor Wetmore visited Professor De Lorenzo’s Italian class 202 and discussed Dante’s relevance today and his influence on graphic representations of hell. During her workshop in Dr. Chambliss’s ENG 325: Readings in Graphic Narrative, she not only introduced students to Dante’s and her own representation of hell but helped them develop their creative skills with drawing exercises and practical advice on how to create a fanzine. The same day, she visited the Ingham County Youth Center together with MSU Incarcerated Arts Program https://artsliving.msu.edu/iap/ under the guidance of Dr. McCarthy and leading student organizers. There, she engaged the young community members through a creative workshop in imagining, drawing and telling stories through art.

On Tuesday, April 1st, she introduced faculty, undergraduate and graduate students into the politico-historical background of Dante, A Divine Comedy and the creative decisions and approaches she chose to tell the story of what can be, to some, a “living hell.”

In all her interactions with faculty, students, and community members, Professor Wetmore was able to create an engaging and authentic contact that was stimulating and enriching. Her discussions are thought-provoking and leave a lasting impression. Her visit was generously co-sponsored by Romance and Classical Studies, the Department of English, and the Arts Living-Learning Community and co-organized by Professors Chambliss, Denzel and McCarthy.