The Art of Social Change [draft]
We have now looked together at several examples of art intended to inspire social change [examples]. Now it is your turn to contribute to our gallery.
For this project you will choose a particular artist, artwork, or group of artists to explore more deeply. You will develop an exhibit for our virtual gallery, in which you present your discoveries and observations about your particular chosen topic. Remember that art doesn’t have to mean flat things that hang on your wall! Please consider musicians and dancers and sculptors and playwrights and architects and performers and, and, AND!
AND: remember that social change doesn’t always mean social changes you approve of! If you find it more interesting to examine, for example, ways groups in power have used art to establish or maintain control over other groups, have at it.
Your exhibit should include: [length guidelines TBA]
– A section on the life of the artist(s) and/or the specific history of the work of art you have chosen
– A section on the social change movement your artist/artwork connects to, including historical context, major events, etc.
– A section on how your artist/artwork contributed to that social change movement. Who did it influence? How?
– Annotated bibliography, including citations in MLA format and a brief description of each source. Remember to also including in-text citations on your writing whenever you quote directly OR use specific ideas from your sources.
In addition! You will also respond in writing to [not sure how many?] exhibit(s) created by your classmates.
The ultimate goal of this project to contribute to a continually growing gallery devoted to the intersection of art and social change. Your work enriches our collective understanding of this topic — and enjoying each others’ work means you get to learn about lots of artists without having to do all the research yourself. Like a chain letter, except not a scam. If you consent to having your work remain in the gallery beyond this semester — and I hope you will — students in future semesters will be able learn from your work.
