Welcome to the November issue of CODAmagazine, where we share the best design + art projects from all over the world. This magazine is published once a month by CODAworx. We’re an online community for artists, design professionals, and industry resources to showcase their work, collaborate with one another, and find the creative resources they need for future projects.

Just like art, storytelling is one of humanity’s oldest and most powerful tools. We honor, celebrate, grieve, contemplate, and share with others the thoughts and emotions we deem important. The stories we share and believe in define us, and the art we create is frequently an essential part of who we are, a part of our individual or collective history, and a medium for the transmission of those stories.

Consider the impact of Remembrance as Resistance: Preserving Black Narratives by Charmaine Minniefield. Beginning with a Praise House in an Atlanta cemetery as a way to pay respect to more than 800 deceased people whose plots were sold to white families after the Civil War, this project has expanded to commemorate and educate many people.

For her presentation at our most recent CODAsummit last month, Minnifield included a video about her work. Many in the audience at CODAsummit were moved, applauding the musical performance, the dancing, and the imagery in the video. What is especially profound about this reaction is that these audience members publicly displayed their appreciation and support before Minniefield started the speaking portion of her presentation.

This quality, the ability to convey information effectively and creatively, is also what sets many CODAaward-winning projects apart. Art can tell stories so well, that sometimes there is a diminished need for comments or explanations to supplement the stories. As art appreciators, we can also discover our own meanings when we encounter the artworks.