From the president
LaRodge Johnson-Miller is a junior at Rutgers University—Camden, where her commitment to community engagement is focused on using art as a form of social justice. Whether through her work with the Student Government Association or Bonner Civic Scholars, LaRodge engages with organizations in Camden that use art to bridge communities and address societal issues. She has supported projects like A New View Camden, which used public art installations to change the narrative of illegal dumping in the city. This project typifies LaRodge’s own vision of how to utilize art and public spaces to not only bring attention to issues of environmental justice but also to start critical conversations among and between communities that are impacted by environmental injustice. LaRodge established the We Live Here artist collective, which aims to foster and grow the arts community in Camden, and sits on the university’s Office of Climate Action Student Advisory Board, where she is focused on how the university can leverage community partnerships as a pathway to expanding environmental sustainability and justice. LaRodge is always working to bring a greater understanding of the role that art can play in bringing individuals and communities together and is an inspiring student leader for the Rutgers-Camden community.
Personal Statement
My passion for community engagement started when I was hired as an artist apprentice on the New View Camden Project in the spring of 2020, which leveraged art to inform the community about the problem of illegal dumping in Camden, NJ. Camden is a “majority-minority” city, which has been disinvested for many decades and, sadly, has been viewed as a site for illegal trash dumping for many from the surrounding communities. Seeing art used as a driver to make social change in a place that I called my home inspired me to pursue art activism to help address civic issues and explore how art could bolster the local economy. That experience stuck with me as I moved into my college career at Rutgers–Camden, where I joined the Bonner Civic Scholars program in my first year as a transfer student. Since then, all of my experiences have emphasized how critical art can be not only aesthetically, but also as a means for recording history and building community engagement. I believe that art is an important tool for my own personal growth as an activist and for the development of my community of Camden.