New Book Display: Artivism: Inventing Vision, Taking Action

Just how far can we push political agendas by the means of art to raise social, environmental, and technical awareness of important issues and needs? And what do we experience in the process? Artivism, a compound word for Art and Activism, has the power to illuminate the imagination and spur not only action, but teaching and learning. Community building and collaboration are part, allowing us to deepen our collective experiences and enrich our understanding of the human condition, characteristics and seminal events that make up the essentials of our human existence. An educative tool in itself, artivism goes beyond the use of language or non verbal communication in social contexts by embracing art in multiple mediums, including visual, literary, and digital, so that we can become more engaged with the world around us.

Artivism: Inventing Vision, Taking Action takes a broad look at the history and connection between art, social transformation, and education with inspiration drawn from a diverse lens with perspective on race, gender, ethnicity, religion, cultural background, abilities, and more. The selections for this display build upon the work of "Artivism: The Power of Art for Social Transformation", a program co-sponsored by the Gottesman Libraries, Adelphi University, and Sing for Hope that aims to generate community through multi-disciplinary teamwork for a more dignified and meaningful coexistence.

"Social imagination is the capacity to invent visions of what should be and what might be in our deficit society, in the streets where we live and our schools. Social imagination not only suggests but also requires that one take action to repair or renew." -- Maxine Greene

This display is curated by Jennifer Govan, Library Director and Senior Librarian, and designed by Trisha Barton, Lead Designer, with assistance from Scarlett Cheng, Library Associate, Art and Design. It complements the multi-venue global exhibition, Art for a Purpose (April-June 2022), which unites global visual statements where the processes and ideas are as important, if not more, than the finished artwork. Hosted by Adelphi University, Art-profiles.net, Center for the Women of New York, and the Gottesman Libraries, this exhibition’s open call to all multi-disciplinary artivists provides a platform to express social concerns and provoke conversations for action.

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The vision of Artivism: The Power of Art for Social Transformation is to generate a movement with committed social artivists in response to historic global unrest. Artivism aims to generate community through multi-disciplinary teamwork for a more dignified and meaningful coexistence, however you define these terms. The goal of this initiative is to nurture confidence in taking continuous action from wherever you are by means of reciprocity.

Artivism: The Power of Art for Social Transformation is a collaboration between Adelphi University; Gottesman Libraries, Teachers College, Columbia University; and Sing for Hope.

Artivism: The Power of Art Social Transformation, grew out of Illuminations of Social Imagination: Learning From Maxine Greene, (Dio Press, 2020), edited by Teachers College alumni Courtney Weida and Carolina Cambronero-Varela, and Dolapo Adeniji-Neill, of Adelphi University. "The concept for this book is inspired by the late Maxine Green, who described her enduring philosophical focus and legacy of social imagination as “the capacity to invent visions of what should be and what might be in our deficient society, on the streets where we live, in our schools” (p. 5). The purpose of this volume is to examine and illuminate the roles of community organizers and educators who are changing lives through public art and community arts projects. This research originally emerged from a well-attended 2018 conference presentation and exhibition at Teachers College, Columbia University, engaging with the local and international community of arts education and arts administration."

-- Publisher's Description

At the Everett News Cafe, you'll find a new book collection every few weeks that relates to current events, education, or learning environments.

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