The Demystifying The Unusual: Alternative Art Workshop was created to free oneself from the expectations of traditional art. This class taught students different creation methods with mold, photo transfer, scratchboard, cyanotype, paint pour, illustration papercut, and graffiti.

History & Distinction

Alternative artworks celebrate artists of any background by making itself as accessible as possible, to as many people as possible. Unfortunately, traditional art tends to differ as it can have barriers. Alternative art spaces purposefully go against the social expectations of traditional art. They’re conscious of how restrictive “fine art” spaces can be so they choose to be defiant against being “driven by profit (and anything) critiqued as rarified and exclusionary” (Fiske, “Alternative Art Spaces”). The stance that Graffiti artists take is one of the things that greatly inspired the goals of this workshop. Graffiti is only limited by age, other than that all kinds of people make graffiti art (Farell, “Graffiti Q&A”). 

Methods

My research was conducted through a literature review and taught me about many different artists and the histories of each medium. I then shared this with my students in a lecture portion at the beginning of each class. Additionally, I would do an in-person tutorial or find a good tutorial online so they could learn how to use each medium. I kept my lessons engaging by connecting with the students personally during the lectures and asking them to reflect on the content. 

Audience & Impact

I wanted the students to be able to break out of any art block they may have had. Thus, my workshop audience was people who felt the need to try something new with their art. My workshop influenced their growth as artists by exposing them to new mediums they had not heard of before and showing them how accessible and freeing alternative art can be. It was not just the students learning however, I discovered many new artists and better understood the methods I was teaching by researching for this class. 

References

Farell, Susan. “Graffiti Q&A.” Graffiti Q & A, 1994, www.graffiti.org/faq/graffiti_questions.html.

Fiske, Courtney. “Alternative Art Spaces in New York City (Article).” Khan Academy, Khan Academy, www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-1010/post-minimalism/painting/a/alternative-art-spaces-in-new-york-city. Accessed 4 Nov. 2023.

Acknowledgments

Firstly, I would like to thank Heather, Harold, and Alex for guiding me and making this class possible. I thank my TA Conell, for helping me with the students.  I would also like to thank Alyssa Caruso for inspiring me to teach this class. Finally, I thank my amazing peers who have participated in this class and/or offered me feedback along the way.