From a young age, Dr. Saeri Dobson thought and dreamt big. Born and raised in Seoul, Korea, Dobson was close with her parents and brother. At the ripe age of 20 years old, Dobson took a leap and packed up, moving to New York City independently, without her family, and unsure of her future.
“I wanted to go to Paris, but obviously that’s only a 20 year old’s dream,” Dobson said. “I was only 20 years old, what did I know, I wanted to explore and just live my life trying to figure it out.”
Before moving to New York, Dobson had studied French Literature in Seoul, but wished to find an interest that truly intrigued her. When one of her peers introduced commercial design, something that focused on graphic design, Dobson was hooked. “Someone told me about this commercial design and graphic design, she showed me some of the work, and I was like, ‘Oh my god this is something I really want to do,’” Dobson said.
This seemingly random opportunity sparked a passion, as Dobson soon worked to earn a masters degree in graphic design, multiple internships, and later an opportunity to teach her passion to others at LMU. Now the Chair of Studio Arts and Professor of Design at LMU, Dobson became acquainted with the LMU mission and ideals. She found a calling to move her work towards social justice and helping those in marginalized communities.
“Before I came to LMU, my whole entire design education was about commercial and branding and identity–how to sell your product and yourself,” Dobson said. “When I started at LMU, the department guided me to align my creative work to the university mission. I had to find something in this work to actually fit me.”
Unfamiliar with social justice work, Dobson again took a leap, turning inward and focusing on her own identity. As a first generation Asian American, Dobson’s passion gravitated towards reaching out to those with similar experiences, empathizing with them and representing them through her creative work in the visual arts.
“I realized that I do have my own identity as an Asian American, or maybe first gen, or something as someone who came here at 20 years old without any family members, trying to figure out my life on my own,” Dobson said. “I thought that this was an obstacle, but at that point I started to learn that in social justice, those obstacles become my assets to talk about someone like me. I can actually help them through art and visual language design.”
Dobson’s first project focused on a Korean American who owned a dry cleaning business. Their business soon began to struggle financially, as they were rapidly losing money from misunderstanding the American legal system in regards to their contracts. Dobson decided to create a 3D exhibition, utilizing her creative design to highlight a story typically untold in the media.
“That gives me so much energy to use arts and design to talk about immigration issues, to talk about domestic violence, to even talk about girls in education and conflict,” Dobson said.
Dobson later expanded her taste for social justice and began to work with non profit organizations, such as New Horizon, an organization that advocates for adults with intellectual disabilities. She also created projects of her own, such as her own fashion line created to raise money to provide girls in Bangladesh with an education.
Although a professional in her field, Dobson’s social justice work continues to provide opportunities for her own learning and growth. Dobson’s ambition not only impacts those around her, but allows for her to be impacted and educated in unfamiliar ways.
“The first time I came to the [New Horizon] facility, I thought I’m going to teach them how to design and how to make things,” Dobson said. “The first week I realized that my methods are never going to work for these people, I need to learn about them first. So I spent time learning about them and learning to make something together.”