Willie Baronet has been buying and collecting homeless signs since 1993 as part of a long term art project titled “WE ARE ALL HOMELESS.” In 2014 he began a 31-day cross country trip to buy signs in 24 cities, which was the subject of the documentary Signs of Humanity, which premiered at the Dallas International Film Festival and has been accepted into 7 additional festivals. The project has been featured in dozens of international and local media, including Yahoo! News, NPR – All Things Considered, The Huffington Post, Al Jazeera America and Fast Company’s blog, posted by Katie Couric. An UpWorthy video about the project that was uploaded on August 31, 2015 has been viewed over 6.4 million times. Another video by Brut.America uploaded in 2018 has been viewed over 2.1M times.
Willie graduated with an MFA in Arts and Technology from UTD in 2011. His art has been featured in a number of group exhibitions including “Art as a Medium for Action” at Hoxton Arches, London and Pembroke College, Cambridge, “Truth to Power” in Philadelphia in conjunction with the Democratic National Convention (which also featured Banksy, Ron English and Shepard Fairey among others), the 15th Annual “No Dead Artists” at the Jonathan Ferrara Gallery in New Orleans, LA, “INVASIONEN/INVASIONS” at the Galerie Carolyn Heinz in Hamburg, Germany, and the “500XPO 2012” at 500X in Dallas. He has also had a number of solo exhibitions across the U.S., and is currently a member of the art collectives “In Cooperation With Muscle Nation” and “CircleWerk.”
Willie Baronet was the owner and creative director of GroupBaronet (now MasonBaronet) from 1992-2006. His design and advertising work has been featured in Communication Arts, Graphis, AIGA, New York Art Directors, The One Show, Print Casebooks, Annual Report Trends, The Type Directors Club and Annual Report Design: A Historical Retrospective 1510-1990, organized by the Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design.
In 2013 he was given the AIGA Fellow award, the highest honor an AIGA chapter can bestow upon one of its members.
He has spoken to various business and creative organizations over the years, including TEDxSMU, and has judged many creative competitions including the prestigious Communication Arts Annual.
Willie is a 1982 graduate of the University of Southwestern Louisiana. He has taught advertising design at Brookhaven Community College, Texas A&M at Commerce, TCU, and has served as visiting faculty for the MA Program at Syracuse University.
Willie is currently the Stan Richards Professor in Creative Advertising at SMU’s Temerlin Advertising Institute, where he teaches classes related to creativity and portfolio development.
Links:
http://www.weareallhomeless.org
http://signsofhumanity.org
https://www.facebook.com/Upworthy/videos/1079780652062792/
https://www.facebook.com/brutamerica/videos/1979264602372049/
https://www.npr.org/2014/07/27/335839155/handmade-signs-from-homeless-people-lead-to-art-understanding
Related Posts
Nick Cain- Being ever creative, Nick Cain finds his role within the arts and society an engaging and multi-faceted one. Heralding from country Victoria, his strong performance background has found him co-leading an iconic Melbourne theatre restaurant cast and sweeping up theatrical awards for his work in other jaunts on stage, including ‘player with most
Read MoreMeg Weinkauf- Not your average Spelling-Bee Champ… Meg Weinkauf is a seasoned patron of nonprofit and for-profit organizations, and a master influencer on social media. Known for her song-bird positioning, The Faithful Leader™ has been daring entrepreneurs to rebel…since she was a child. Born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Meg was raised in Classic
Read MoreRobert Brus Robert Brus: I’ve been lucky in my life to experience many different professions. It all started in the Australian Defence Force when I was just 17-years old. I joined the Royal Australian Navy as a Combat Systems Operator and was responsible for the operation of the warships radars, sonar and electronic warfare sensors. It was a great
Read MoreKasha Slavner- Kasha Slavner is very much a typical teenager who sometimes needs to be reminded to clean her room and help with the dishes but who also cares a great deal about the planet. She attends a Toronto high school which ‘supports and promotes social justice through five core tenets of education’: Human Rights, International Development,
Read MoreDr Liz Powell- Dr Liz Powell is a psychologist and coach who works with people who feel like the regular dating world doesn’t fit for them. She helps them learn how to tap into their authentic selves to create relationships that are their unique perfect fit and that make them feel worthy and deserving of
Read MoreNiiamah “Nemo” Ashong- Niiamah “Nemo” Ashong has had extensive experience as a Retirement Actuarial Consultant for Deloitte Consulting. In this role, he has helped clients make decisions on the design, funding, and communication of their benefits programs, based upon analysis of large data sets and development of forecasting models based on assumptions. Nemo also has
Read MoreAbout David CampbellAs an empty nest dad, lifelong musician, and passionate podcaster, I’m driven by a deep love for authentic conversations and creative connections. I call myself a “collector of people” because I believe in building bridges through story—one voice, one episode, one connection at a time… …In a world that often emphasizes division, I
Read MoreAbout Sylvia WorshamSylvia Worsham is a 3x bestselling author, spiritual transformation coach, and host of Release Doubt, Reveal Purpose, who lives her passion by helping corporate and professional women who are in profound spiritual change navigate toward their divine soul’s purpose and align with their soul’s identity… …Her miraculous recovery from a medical complication served
Read MoreAbout Travis SivartTravis I. Sivart is a prolific author of Fantasy, Science Fiction, Social DIY, and more. He’s created The Traverse Reality, a shared universe that connects his cyberpunk, fantasy, and steampunk worlds, and writes characters who come to life… …Travis I. Sivart has been writing and telling stories since he was a young child.
Read MoreTodd Tresidder You’ve probably noticed how self-proclaimed financial experts have biographical pages filled with credentials and achievements designed to impress you. This page is no different… at least in the beginning. Todd Tresidder’s background includes: B.A. in Economics from University of California at Davis Member of Economics Honors Society and Deans List A serial entrepreneur
Read MoreSree Sreenivasan- ABOUT SREE: Sree Sreenivasan is a leading social and digital media consultant, working with nonprofits, startups and companies around the world. He has served as Chief Digital Officer of New York City, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Columbia University (where he was a full-time professor of journalism for 20+ years). In 2015,
Read MoreJennifer Britton- Jennifer Britton, MES, CHRP, CPT, PCC is the author of Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2010) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013). Jennifer is an expert in the area of Group Coaching and Team Development. As a performance improvement specialist, Jennifer founded her company, Potentials Realized in 2004. Dedicated to supporting organizations
Read More