How art created in public can be a voice for the people
Big Idea and Rationale
Over and over I have been asked, why street art? Why is it important enough to garner this much attention and study? Shouldn't our students be learning more about how to paint still lives?
Public art, and the effects it can have on a community, have long been of high interest to me professionally and personally. In the summer of 2020, our community heard the call for racial and social justice. With it came an artistic outpouring. New murals sprouted along public streets and adorned local businesses. Some of these murals were spontaneous and others were requested by business owners out of fear of property damage. All spoke a clear message of the need for conversation
about racial and social justice. Many of these artists who created murals during the summer of 2020 spoke over Zoom with my students and one has even done an artist residency in my class, creating an immediate engagement and intervention in courageous conversations. This street art is happening right now, in our immediate environment as a response to current topics bringing Artivism to the forefront of many artists' minds.
One goal of this project is to explore how street art serves as a way to create connection, build community and open up opportunities to explore art as a response to cultural and political shifts.. Students use visual literacy strategies to interpret the stories of others found in the street art as well as communicate their own story. I want to help students learn to articulate evidence of how works of art impacts communities and how artists are influenced by cultural factors, similar to the social justice murals created in our own town. I also want students to change the way they perceive the role of artists and students as active participants in shaping the world around them. Instead of art only being about having the skills to create decorative images, they will learn to see how art can enlighten or change public perception and make space for unheard stories. My students are global learners who can think both within and beyond themselves, connect their learning to the real world, recognize the transformative power of sharing stories, and connect "here" with "there" in order to empower citizens young and old to make change.
Representation in a community is key to fostering a sense of belonging and this can be achieved through public art that echoes the thought process, beliefs or imagery from a group of people. By sharing with students how marginalized voices are represented in the cities near and far they will begin to feel comfortable finding space to share their own stories.Once students see themselves reflected in the community, they can feel validated in who they are and find agency to make changes. Without that connection or sense of belonging they will forever feel like outsiders whose voice goes unheard, whose ideas will not be listened to, who turn to apathy instead of empathy. With underrepresented voices and those of the majority, a new kind of tangible culture can be created together, forging the relationship between students, their families and the wider community.
Subject Content and Interdisciplinary Connections Visual Arts: creation of artwork to raise awareness and spark change Science/Math/Social Studies/World Languages: Much of this project is self-guided in terms of picking a topic. Because of this projects may dip more heavily into any one of these categories ELA: writing of artists’ statements to describe the idea behind artworks
Tech: use of websites, padlet or a similar sharing service, zoom
Process
In Our Own Backyard.
With all of this in mind students began work on a multi-layered unit all about street and public art near and far. We began with a walking tour through Hilliard’s downtown area, where a number of pieces of public art have recently been completed. We talked about what the pieces represented, why they were placed in certain areas, and the overall aesthetics of each piece. While we were walking students also looked for areas that could be potential sites for future artworks. They debated the entire way home about what works they liked, what the impact they had viewers, and what they would have done as the artist instead.
When we returned to school we spent a few classes looking at other murals and public works of art in the greater Columbus area thanks to this website. Great discussions were held as students found work that resonated with them. We investigated artists’ social media and websites to learn more about the individuals making these works, and what each piece brings to the community. Emphasis was placed on finding unique visions, voices, and stories.
Try This!
We began building a library of street artists through the use of a padlet. I love using padlets in class for everything from critiques, responses to historical artworks, and especially for building visual libraries! Check out one class’s collection here! Students add a picture or two of a street artist they admired. They also added the artist’s website, if available, their rationale for picking this artist, and a brief overview of the artist’s main ideas. After creating their submission we spent time looking at and commenting on each other’s posts.
Knowledge Building
The beauty of street and public art is that it can be seen by anyone, anytime, without admission costs, and without pretense. It can be seen and interpreted by anyone as each viewer brings their own experience and history with them. With this in mind, I wanted to make sure my students had a solid foundation of knowledge before making their own artworks. We debated the difference between graffiti, street art, and public art. Through videos and articles, we learned about places where street art is being used to bring back life into forgotten neighborhoods. And of course we looked at TONS of art around the country and world.
We began with a presentation I made as a street art primer (see link below)
Next we looked at images I took while studying street art on a world google map.
We compared and contrasted the images, styles, and themes with what they saw in Hilliard and Columbus.
Lastly we did a deep dive into three specific areas full of street art in Detroit, MI. We used the presentations and questions linked below
Check out these murals from the market district, a parking garage, and other places around downtown.
Or the amazing installations of the heidelberg Project and Dbals African Bead Museum
Resources used for knowledge building
The Artwork
Each student was tasked with creating a piece of art to be displayed in public with the intention of making the community more aware of an idea, issue, or concern.
Students painted, drew, collaged, and used digital tools to create unique pieces that could be turned into public murals. They picked topics that are important to themselves, as well as the rest of their community members. I was pleased with the wide variety of topics chosen! Check out the think sheet they used to work through their ideas and how to tie them to SDGs and glocal thinking.
Once students were done with their artworks, they thought about site specificity and where viewing the artwork would have the greatest impact on the community. They drove, walked, or biked to locations, took pictures, and finally digitally superimposed the images onto their chosen buildings. We built a map of the locations of their proposed works to share with other classes, the local arts commission, and themselves. The final step in the unit was to write a letter of intent to the arts commission explaining their mural, the need for it in the community, and the process they would use to create it. While most of the students did not actually send these letters, a few actually did! At this time, there are no plans for any of the murals to be created, though one student’s work was commissioned to decorate an electrical box in a beautification campaign.
In the end students were super engaged throughout the entire lesson. They loved learning about a wide variety of contemporary artists dealing with issues they face and understand. They relished taking the first steps to creating change or awareness in their own community. And they supported each other throughout, turning this into a collaborative game-changer.
Global Competencies |
Investigate the World Students will be choosing to create artwork about a topic that needs to be changed to create better circumstances for people. That is a really broad task, but as students determine what they would like to see changed, they will begin narrowing it down. After picking their topic students will to investigate how others around the world have dealt with this topic. They will also begin to research how their topic affects people in various communities, and how it is viewed in various cultures. |
Appreciate Perspective As part of their project, students will not only be thinking about their topic and it’s data, but also explore how other artists have created work about the same issue. These may be artists in their community, such as the artists that created murals in downtown Columbus after racial injustice protests during the summer of 2020. Finding artists from various parts of the world dealing with these same issues in their art will only help solidify student’s understanding of the local-global dynamic. Students will be encouraged to try to make contact with the artists when appropriate through email, zooms, or social media to better fully understand their perspective and voice. |
Communicate to Diverse Audience At the end of the project students will be sharing their street/pubic art with wide audiences of their peers and community members. They will have to think about how their artwork and will be seen by various groups of viewers and prepare for feedback from all of them. Special consideration will be made in the creation of the art in regards to making varied audiences aware of the student chosen topic. Students will decide if they are simply presenting materials, or trying to sway thoughts and opinions with their artworks, and will adjust their projects accordingly. |
Take ActionStudents will each find a way to share their artwork and artist statement with an authentic audience in hopes of making the viewer more aware of their topic and what they would like to see changed. By sharing their vision, action and change can be made through conversations started with their artworks. |
Ohio State Standards Utilized in this Unit | | |
HSAD.3CO Predict potential impact and responses to works of art based on contextual considerations. | HSI.4RE Explain the relationship between cultures, communities and artists. | HSAD.4RE Justify how individual artists impact cultural developments. |
HSAD.2PE Justify the intentional selection of materials and techniques while exhibiting advanced technical skills. | HSAD.3CR Synthesize visual literacy strategies to fluently communicate meaning. | HSAD.2CR Determine potential solutions for artistic problems with independence and purpose. |
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