Art Activism
Students will take a stand for a social issue that is relevant to our community and work to facilitate change through art. Each year, we will investigate a local and/or global issue and create large scale artworks to auction with the goal of fundraising for the chosen cause, where appropriate to context. The large scale artworks and any other associated materials, such as interviews and documented stages of the creation process will be used to create a local impact.
1. For students to participate as changemakers in their community. 2. To participate meaningfully in one’s community by leveraging individual skillsets. 3. To understand and implement the power of art as a communication tool. 4. To learn about and empathize with local issues and promote community awareness of those issues. This course is an interdisciplinary course that authentically combines Social Studies, and Arts Education while exploring a social justice issue.
Visual arts reflect the interconnectedness of the individual, community, history, and society Growth as an artist is dependent on perseverance, resilience, refinement, and reflection. Artistic expression is an artist’s physical and cognitive articulation of our humanity. The causes of social injustice are complex and have lasting impacts on society. Social justice initiatives can transform individuals and systems.
This course is designed to develop and hone artistic skills while learning about key local issues. Like a Fitness and Conditioning course, if a student takes Art Activism at the different grade levels, they will work on refining their skill set (Curricular Competencies) while learning about different issues. In this respect, the topics change yearly and the depth of skills and techniques grow with the students but the essential art content does not change.