How can social justice/injustice play a major role in art education? Artists create art that is influenced by what is going on around them and what is happening in their life. Artists respond to their emotions and portray these emotions through their art.Social justice/injustice is all around us and easily accessible. As a future art educator social justice/injustice is an avenue that students can explore and create art in response to their ideas and emotions. Students are all affected by social justice/injustice and this can be a way for them to express their thoughts to what could be a personal issue. When students are researching and creating their projects this can help them develop their identities of who they are because it shows what the student may support or disagree with. Students are able to research and understand what their topic may have to do with social justice and the information may or may not change their views on a topic. Students can learn more about themselves, the world, and their own beliefs.
Art is a way of expressing yourself. There is no wrong or right way and no definite rules about how to do it. But in art there are many valuable skills that can be developed and made stronger when creating art. Collaborating, planning, reflecting, and being driven are all skills can be developed. When creating a lesson, especially around social justice/injustice, these skills are brought forth to help create a successful project.
I LOVE how you mention that art is a form of expression and it is how the artist reflects on what is going on around them. This is very true. I agree with your idea of having students make artwork that is personal to them as social justice/ injustice can happen in large populations or small groups. I am glad you brought up to be aware of how your community and students are affected by these sensitive topics. What can we do to insure that our students feel comfortable when confronting these big ideas?
ReplyDeleteI think your inclusion of the importance of research in art making is very insightful as many students do not realize this as an essential step in creating artwork. I agree that through research the students will be able to become more knowledgeable, and it will help them develop their own views on current topics in the world around them. Also, I like how you linked social justice issues to the community. It reminded me of an article we read called “Exercising the Ecological Imagination.” It described the importance of incorporating the community in the art curriculum. This allows the students to make connections to issues and events happening in their own communities through their artwork. I think it would be very effective to include both social justice and the community in the art classroom.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that research has to be an essential part of the artmaking or the work itself will not be thoughtful, rich, and reflect the social justice issue at hand. Often times, students want to make art about an important issue but shy away from it due to their lack of confidence/knowledge in a subject. As Sydney Walker described, helping them to develop a knowledge base is essential. Good work!
ReplyDeleteOne sentence in this blog post, I think, reflects the article we read, the main idea behind your post, and a big topic that will be essential in our classrooms and lessons. That is "Being aware is the key." Awareness of issues and happenings of the world, awareness of each and every student and taking the time to know them, awareness of the community you are teaching, etc. are so important when going into art teaching. We all want every one of our students to feel able safe physically, emotionally and mentally, and to be able to explore, ask questions, and to express themselves. To achieve this requires the time and effort put into planning and researching.
ReplyDeleteI also really enjoyed that you said there is not right or wrong way to do art because we know that many kids come to art classrooms with preconcieved notions of how to "do" art or have limited ideas of what are should be. Communicating your statement to our classrooms is very important in order for all kids to succeed!
I love how you chose to focus on injustice as well as justice. I never thought of that! It makes me think of my performance art this semester around ecology. I had many ideas planned as a "rebellion" against ecology. I didn't think of these things because I wanted to be a jerk, but because media often brings forth negative actions that then spark positive actions in those who are appalled. This would be a fun thing to explore in the classroom. The world needs both good and evil, for without one, the other can not exist.
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