Sustainable Development Goal #10: Reduced Inequalities


                                                                                                                                    Temple University

 

                         

 

The mural art project is the tenth out of the seventeen SDGs, has become the third goal to be celebrated in the campaign at Global Philadelphia Association. 

  • Sponsor of the project: Temple University
  • Artist(s): Mat Tomezsko
  • Grantee: The Institute for Diversity, Equality, Advocacy, and Leadership (IDEAL)

 

 

About Mat Tomezsko

Mat Tomezsko is an artist from Philadelphia creating abstract paintings, public art installations, and community art projects based around participation and everyday visual language. His approach to composition is informed by mid-century formalism and conceptualism. His work was recognized by the 2017 Americans for the Arts Public Art Network Year in Review for outstanding public art. Tomezsko’s artwork has been exhibited at numerous art spaces regionally and nationally, including the Crane Arts, Woodmere Art Museum, the Center For Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA), and Wexler Gallery in Philadelphia; Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago, IL; the Delaware Contemporary in Wilmington, DE; and Thomas Hunter Projects in New York, NY. He has created several notable public art projects including 14 Movements: A Symphony in Color and Words, a mile-long temporary mural installed in downtown Philadelphia during the 2016 Democratic National Convention; Look Long and Look Good, a series of 30 paintings currently installed along Main Street in Manayunk; and Flowering Axes, a mural in the 5th Street Vehicular Tunnel underneath the Ben Franklin Bridge.

His work is in the collection of The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania, Fox School of Business at Temple University, Capital One in Wilmington, DE; and various private collections.

  • Location of the painting: Gladfelter Hall, Temple University
  • Academic Partner: Temple University

 


 
Reducing inequalities and ensuring no one is left behind are integral to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. 
 
Inequality within and among countries is a persistent cause for concern. Despite some positive signs toward reducing inequality in some dimensions, such as reducing relative income inequality in some countries and preferential trade status benefiting lower-income countries, inequality still persists.
 
COVID-19 has deepened existing inequalities, hitting the poorest and most vulnerable communities the hardest. It has put a spotlight on economic inequalities and fragile social safety nets that leave vulnerable communities to bear the brunt of the crisis.  At the same time, social, political and economic inequalities have amplified the impacts of the pandemic.
 
On the economic front, the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased global unemployment and dramatically slashed workers’ incomes.
 
COVID-19 also puts at risk the limited progress that has been made on gender equality and women’s rights over the past decades. Across every sphere, from health to the economy, security to social protection, the impacts of COVID-19 are exacerbated for women and girls simply by virtue of their sex.
 
Inequalities are also deepening for vulnerable populations in countries with weaker health systems and those facing existing humanitarian crises. Refugees and migrants, as well as indigenous peoples, older persons, people with disabilities and children are particularly at risk of being left behind. And hate speech targeting vulnerable groups is rising.