Edited by: Connie Stewart, Eli Burke, Lisa Hochtritt, Toya Northington
Foreword by: James Haywood Rolling Jr.
Publication Date: December 22, 2023
Pages: 176
These stories from art educators highlight how art and visual culture can bridge learning with lived experience. Written by and for art educators from all backgrounds and contexts, this volume offers guidance for expanding students’ opportunities to critically examine current events, histories, and cultural assumptions in ways that are relevant and inclusive of all identities. Readers will learn how to use contemporary art and dialogue as tools to acknowledge and value the unique perspectives of each person. Authors from diverse settings offer topics, insights, resources, and research for centering voices and critical conversations in K–12, higher education, museums, and nontraditional classrooms. Including artwork in full-color, the book addresses such questions as:
Book Features:
Connie Stewart is professor emeritus at the University of Northern Colorado and coauthor of Teaching Contemporary Art With Young People: Themes in Art for K–12 Classrooms. Eli Burke is an interdisciplinary artist and PhD candidate in art and visual culture education at the University of Arizona and former education director at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson. Lisa Hochtritt is director of the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program at Maryland Institute College of Art. Toya Northington is a multidisciplinary artist and director of equity, inclusion, and belonging at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.
“This book offers its readers a much-needed resource for dialogical interventions capable of dampening the contemporary uproar of outrage and insensitivity. … I heartily applaud the coeditors for successfully assembling these chapters for its audiences. A critical voice makes itself heard.”
—From the Foreword by James Haywood Rolling Jr., professor, Syracuse University
“Rather than frame art education as a series of technical exercises, this invaluable contribution to the field brings to the fore the importance of engaging contemporary culture in the visual arts and examines how divergent ideas can spur creativity and empower critical conversations around difference and community. The authors discuss a diversity of experiences as both practitioners and scholars in navigating consequential subject matter, empowering marginalized perspectives, and decentering traditional modes of instruction.”
—Roberto Visani, associate professor, department of art and music, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, City University of New York
“A book we all need when we need it most! Brimming with vital perspectives stemming from art-based dialogue, this book urges us to grow, to change, to examine our own power, to be brave, and to listen. Doing so is both an invitation and a mandate for compassionate rethinking in our art rooms, our schools, our communities, and beyond.”
—Sara Wilson McKay, associate professor, Virginia Commonwealth University and past chair, NAEA Research Commission
Contents (FINAL)
Foreword James Haywood Rolling Jr. ix
Preface Connie Stewart xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction Connie Stewart, Eli Burke, Lisa Hochtritt, and Toya Northington 1
Part I. Conversations in Art Educational Settings
1. Exploring Debatable Topics With Divergent Thinking Strategies: A Visual Narrative 7
Rebecca Shipe
2. Let’s Talk: Engaging in Critical Conversations in the Art Room 11
Amy Pfeiler-Wunder and Mary Kate Bergh
3. Children Can Talk About Hard Things 16
Kimberly Lane
4. Investigating Contemporary Art in the Elementary Classroom 19
Amy Felder
5. Challenging Content and Critical Conversations in the Classroom 21
Kryssi Staikidis
6. “Yes, and . . .” Extending Conversations in Art Classrooms 26
Nikki Sandschaper
7. Challenging Implicit Bias: Using Contemporary Art to Understand the Power of Personal Autonomy 27
Kristin A. Ponden
8. Approaching a Liberatory Future of Museum Education: Reflections on Practice and Pedagogy 29
Ariana Robles, Amara Higuera, Gladys Preciado, and Alice Bebbington
9. Addressing Facilitator Power in Youth Museum Programs 32
Simona Zappas
10. Rethinking Feelings in Antiracist Art Pedagogy 34
Injeong Yoon-Ramirez
11. Shifting the Conversation: Scaffolding Sociocultural Dialogue in the Elementary Art Classroom 38
Beth Link
12. Artistic Responses to Race 42
Naomi Lifschitz-Grant, Robb Epps, and Taylor Styles
13. Using Group Reflection and Dialogue as Tools for Antiracist Teaching 49
Amanda Tobin Ripley, Hannah Heller, and Michelle Antonisse
14. Shaming Queerness in Art Spaces: Would You Change That If You Could? 52
Libya Doman
15. Rethinking Disability in Art Classrooms 55
Kelly M. Gross
Part II. Structuring the Learning Environment for Open Discussion
16. Creating Spaces to Support Difficult Dialogues 59
Lisa Hochtritt
17. Centering Culture Through Critical Conversations 63
Katie Coogan and Margaret Walker
18. Conversations Over Wi-Fi: Reorienting Student-Centered Art Discussions Online 66
Ashley Mask
19. Building Community by Using Opening and Closing Circles 69
Valeska Maria Populoh
20. Gallery Art Hive as Dialogic Space 72
Natasha S. Reid
21. Artists as Activists: Engaging Middle School Artists in Creating Art That Matters 74
Julie Toole
22. Finding the Hidden Questions 77
Alice C. Pennisi
23. Talking About Art: When Questions Are the Answer 79
Erica Richard
24. Critical Conversations in Conservative Communities 80
Kelly Beach and Dianna Montano, with Connie Stewart
25. Facilitating Dialogue About Loss and Grief in the Gallery 82
Harrison Orr and Carissa DiCindio
26. How Superficial Themes in the Art Classroom Can Erase the Narrative of Marginalized Students and Communities 85
Ketal Patel
27. Problematizing Conversations: Creating Art to Engage in Difficult Discussions 88
William Estrada
28. Two Colleagues Talk About Care: Responding to the Emotional States of Our Students 91
Chris Cain and John Humphrey, with Connie Stewart
Part III. Inviting Reflective Stories
29. A Not-So-Queer Education 95
Eli Burke
30. Story as Pedagogy: Narrative Co-Inquiry With Teachers, Students, and Communities 98
Pamela Harris Lawton
31. Generating LGBTQ+ Community Through Dialogue 100
Adam J. Greteman, Nic M. Weststrate, and Karen Morris
32. Power Play in the Art Critique 104
Kerry Downey and Aparna Sarkar
33. Negotiating White Privilege in a Visual Culture Intervention 107
Lisa Novak and Breckon Chastain
34. Critical Conversations in Art History: The State of the Field From Students’ Perspectives 110
Rebecka Black, Aiyana Cady-Alviar, Damaria Moye, and Denise Zubizarreta
35. Opening a Conversation About Adoption Through the Artwork of JooYoung Choi 113
Borim Song
36. Art and Compassionate Dialogue: Finding and Giving Voice Through Intuitive Knowing and Artistic Research 117
Rébecca Bourgault and Catherine Rosamond
37. Questioning White Privilege Through Contemporary Art 120
Donalyn Heise and Alisse Guerra
38. Investigations of Racism Through a Hexagon Project in an Online College Art Methods Course 122
JaeHan Bae
39. Giving Voice to the Story of Migration 125
Naomi Lifschitz-Grant, Allison Ellis, and Catherine Holmes
40. Fifth Dimension Discourse: Afrofuturism and the Creation of Brave Spaces in Art Teaching 128
Kathy J. Brown and Lauren Cross
41. Start Where You Are 133
Toya Northington
Resources That Inspire 137
About the Editors and Contributors 145
Index 153
Professors: Request an Exam Copy
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