Summer 2021: Artivism

Art + Activism = Artivism

This summer we've spent each week introducing and exploring local Chicago-based artist activists to share their stories and their connections to the arts. Through these conversations, we've worked to combine art with activism to create the concept of "artivism." In doing this, we've begun to discover ways to transform our own community through voice and art and answer the question: "What is the change that you want to make in your community and how are you part of that change?"

How did your team conceive your project? In our planning session, we discussed how art can convey and express important values and ideas. Our artist, Jessica Mueller, introduced us to Jahmal Cole, an activist in Chicago. She then mentioned that there are many artist-activists in Chicago. We each shared personal experiences with using our “Voice” to bring about positive change. We thought this would be a wonderful idea to bring to our parent participants. Thus, the big idea of “Artivism” was born. How was inquiry introduced to students and how did you integrate the inquiry process into your project? Inquiry was introduced to our parent participants by asking them what things they would like to see changed or improved in their own community. We shared videos of artist-activists that were inspiring change in the city of Chicago.

How did you integrate SEL into your projects? The SEL developed organically to our group as we fostered discussions about challenging and complex topics and asked our parent participants how they believed they could inspire change. By continuing to build connections and relationships with our parent participants, we engaged, empowered, and encouraged each other through art exploration. Additionally, we accepted and valued each other’s feelings, contributions, and emotions.

What did you learn about your students and how they learned? Our parent participants were extremely inquisitive and willing to be vulnerable in sharing their personal experiences and beliefs. What did you learn about the way you teach? We discovered that we were able to create an atmosphere where we were “comfortable being uncomfortable.” We strived to foster an intentional setting where learning was accessible to everyone. One example of this, each class was led in both English and Spanish. Further, each class was recorded so that parent participants could attend at their convenience.