White-Leader

From factories to walls to canvas, the meanings of a color.

———

By Wendy S. Walters

Illustration by Breanna Gooch (2017)

1) I looked forward to entering the newly renovated school building that had been rescued from demolition by a group of teachers who dedicated their lives to progressive education and the well-being of all children. I believed the interior space would reflect the optimism and confidence of these visionaries who had turned strangers, who otherwise would never have found each other, into a polis of moral compatriots. I expected the renovations to the original structure would be modest though reflective of its essential character, and they were— impressively so. What I did not expect to find was the walls of the interior covered in a blisteringly bright, icy white paint.

Read the rest of this feature in the print issue.

Issue 1
Publication Date: May 17

Wendy S. Walters is the author of two books of poems and a book of prose, Multiply/Divide: On the American Real and Surreal (Sarabande), which was named a best book of the year by Buzzfeed, Flavorwire, Literary Hub, The Root, and Huffington Post. She is Associate Dean of Art and Design History and Theory at Parsons and Associate Professor of Literary Studies at Eugene Lang College of The New School.