Exhibition: Art for a Purpose

Art for a Purpose unites global visual statements where the processes and ideas are as important, if not more, than the finished artwork. This exhibition’s open call to all multi-disciplinary artivists provides a platform to express social concerns and provoke conversations for action.

The mission of Artivism: The Power of Art for Social Transformation, an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional global collaboration, is to engage people in transforming society through the power of art. The vision of this initiative is to generate a movement with committed social artivists in response to historic global concerns. Artivism aims to generate community through multi-disciplinary teamwork for a more dignified and meaningful coexistence, however you define these terms. 

"The activism in these selections touches on connecting nature to the body and how individuals advocate for themselves or heal through art and nature. Additionally, it addresses the concerns of nature and the body and how they affect each other.

The collection expands minds on how we care for ourselves as individuals, as a collective, and nature's influence in the process of seeking liberation. Romanticism and transcendentalism connect to the theme of nature and the body, but with 21st-century concerns of liberation. These contemporary concerns relate to the self reaching sublime and that the sublime is accessible to all. We can ask the question of what disrupts our personal and collective peace and how nature is involved. Our selection explores how the body is either manipulated by nature, moves in nature, or uses, or rejects, nature through various mediums such as paint, media, and literature."

-- Curator's Statement

The Offit Gallery exhibition, Art for a Purpose, is curated by Trisha Barton, Lead Designer, with assistance from Scarlett Cheng, Library Associate, Art and Design, in collaboration with the Artivism Team.

Where: Offit Gallery

When: May 6 - June 23

Opening Venue: Tuesday, May 10, 4-5pm

Poster Image: Visual, Courtesy of Artivism

Participating institutions in the multi-venue global exhibition are: Adelphi University, Performing Arts Center (4/18-5/23); ArtProfiles.net (May-June online); and the Center for the Women of New York, Fort Totten (5/7-5/23).

Also be sure to visit Artivism: Inventing Vision, Taking Action, an Everett Cafe Online Book Display, which has been extended through May.

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

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To request disability-related accommodations contact OASID at oasid@tc.edu, (212) 678-3689, or (646) 755-3144 video phone, as early as possible.