Because she has seen students increasingly advocating for social justice and for their intersectional identities, Rachel Epp Buller hoped that developing a new course called Activism, Art, and Design might offer students models of how to leverage art for social change, while also connecting to their institution's values. She is an associate…

Nearly a decade after "Social Justice Art," innovative arts educator Marit Dewhurst returns with a new edition offering further guidance for developing meaningful, justice-centered art programming. Reflecting on a growing interest in the field and its place within larger movements that uses creative strategies to drive social change,…

This article explores how the colonisation of womens bodies, as perpetuated through the art trope of the female nude, has constructed a specific bodily ideal that still resonates and informs how we view women's bodies in contemporary life. I address how the same narratives that restrict our understanding of the female body, also restrict our…

This article describes how Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) art teacher SJ Hemmerich intentionally addresses social justice topics they see as problematic within Hemmerich's school community, and features artwork created by artists of color and queer artists from different religions, cultures, and backgrounds and with varying abilities…

This article examines the transformative educational practices and democratic ethos of Black Mountain College, an experimental institution ahead of its time. Drawing on insights from scholars like Rhea Estelle Lathan and Susan Kates, Muir positions Black Mountain as a site of community literacies, by prioritizing democratic engagement, diversity,…

The state of the world keeps me up at night, questioning my role as a social justice educator. I think with, through, and around what social change means. Reflecting on my practice, I have followed Western/colonial research and educational methodologies, knowing that they need to be challenged but often being unable to do so. I make present this…

This article examines forms of activism in which artistic expression features as a means of raising awareness and catalyzing progressive change on matters of equality, diversity, inclusion and social justice. Focusing in particular on anti-racist and decolonial activism within the context of art museums, experimental project spaces and collections…

Place has long been noticed, made, developed, and narrativized in favor of settler majorities' economies and hegemonies. Disregarding Indigenous presence and land, the terror on the land continues in the form of dislocation and dispossession of Indigenous, Black, and other minoritized communities of color, along with racial segregation and…

In this article, I examine the interplay of artist identity, creative agency, and the urgency of action through research with a teen arts internship at a contemporary arts center in post-Katrina New Orleans. The central research questions for the study focused on investigation of the contexts, narratives, activities, and consequences of artist…

This article is a revised version of the "Studies in Art Education" invited lecture that was to have taken place at the annual convention of the National Art Education Association in March 2020. Taking into account the challenges of the global pandemic and the possibilities presented by uprisings for racial, climate, and social justice…

Hate speech has become a growing topic of discussion and debate on a global scale, especially as advances in the internet transform communication on many levels. Among scholars, hate speech has been defined as any form of expression -- for example by means of speech, images, videos or online activity -- that has the capacity to increase hatred…

Maxine Greene centered the arts as important sites for cultivating a more relational and ethical means of educating students. Advocating for an aesthetic pedagogy, Greene conceived of aesthetics as a philosophy that studies artistic making, perception, and affect as a means of understanding experiences, and the meaning of those experiences as…

Socially engaged artwork challenges viewers to ask critical questions about society, to dialogue about issues that affect quality of life, and to question how art is considered. Art educators can provide opportunity to discuss and respond artistically to issues within their communities. One way to approach this is through place-based educational…

This essay addresses theories, research, and practices of promoting arts and social justice across the curriculum toward collaboration between schools and their surrounding communities. As secondary students grapple with challenging issues, they can extend their learning experience in meaningful ways with creative expressions in the visual,…

This article explores collaborative social justice art education, community building, and activism through teacher workshops that utilized contemporary art to generate curriculum and dialogue. It models one possibility for professional development that casts teachers as learners in a supportive yet critical environment. It draws on critical…