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| Murals often express social or environment concerns through art. I'm sitting by a mural in Tucson, Arizona that draws attention to the endangered jaguar. |
When I was the Elementary Director of the National
Art Education Association (NAEA), I worked on the committee to write a NAEA
position statement on Social Justice, a cause I believe to be critically
important. (Position statements are reflective
of national issues or topics of interest to art educators and are regularly
developed and reviewed to provide support for teachers.)
That experience inspired the November issue of SchoolArts Magazine.
For this issue, I must also thank two co-editors who contributed
greatly to its scope and content: Wanda Knight, Professor of Art Education and
Women’s Studies at Penn State School of Visual Arts, and David Gran, a high
school teacher at the Shanghai American School in China and author of the art
education blog, The Carrot Revolution.
You may be familiar with activism through the arts for efforts such
as Pinwheels for Peace, the Memory Project, and the Hexagon Project from
articles in SchoolArts or from the Internet. These kinds of efforts provide a
platform for developing kindness and thoughtfulness towards others. They were
all begun by just one or two people but have now become widespread due to the
accessibility of the Internet. Our issue this month shares other similar
efforts by art educators. They might just inspire your own.
NAEA
Position Statement on Social Justice
NAEA recognizes the importance of art education to raise
critical consciousness, foster empathy and respect for others, build community,
and motivate people to promote positive social change. Service learning is one
approach to education in which social justice is addressed through service with
others, often in arts-based projects.
Artists often engage with the issues of their time, and some
treat the creation of art as a social practice. Art can provide a meaningful
catalyst to engage individuals and communities to take action around a social
issue. The processes by which people create and interact with art can help them
understand and challenge inequities through art education and social justice.
The interconnectedness of the Internet has
enabled many social justice and service learning projects to grow into global
arts-based efforts. Visual art educators are encouraged to have their students
participate in pre-existing social justice/service learning projects or to
develop their own.
[Adopted
March 2015]
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