Art and Society

Readings

Bradley, Charles and Charles Esche, eds. Art and Social Change: A Critical Reader. Millbank, London: Tate Publishing; Afterall, 2007.
HUNT FA-REF-4
N 72.S6 A78 2007
Selected writings by international artists chronologically organized around political upheaval or conflict: 1871 Paris Commune, 1917 Russian revolution, 1968 political turbulence worldwide; 1989 progression toward the end of the Soviet empire.

Suggested web sites

• Art in the Public Interest
  Non-profit supporting community-based and socially conscious art;
  co-directors of Community Arts Network meta-site.

• Center for the Arts in Society (Carnegie Mellon University)
  "Through practice, publications, exhibitions, performances, and projects, artists and humanists examine the impact of arts on social change as well as the importance of historical events for the evolution of the arts. In courses, in programs for visiting scholars, and in sponsored research activities, the Center fosters interdisciplinary collaboration both within the University and between the University and arts and cultural organizations."

• Creative Capital Foundation
  a New York City-based nonprofit organization; funds and promotes "artists who pursue innovation in form and/or content in the performing and visual arts, film and video, and in emerging fields"; provides advisory services and professional development assistance to recipients.

• Creative Time
  Organization founded in 1974 supporting innovative public art/commentary in New York City. Web site includes documentation on past, current and upcoming projects.

• Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life
  "A national consortium of colleges and universities committed to public scholarship in the arts, humanities, and design.. joins serious intellectual endeavor with a commitment to public practice and public consequence." The org hosts an annual conference and the web site provides information on the consortium including news and events.

• Public Art Network (Americans for the Arts)
  Provides "services to the diverse field of public art and to develop strategies and tools to improve communities through public art." Site includes Year in Review artists projects images and descriptions (slides or cd's available), contact information for their Networking and Outreach program including the PAN listserv, Public Art Network summaries, and Research and Planning Tools. Distributes the Public Art Network Award presented at the annual conference; produces the Public Art Program Directory.

• SAW: Street Art Workers
  Formed in 2001, a U.S. based network of printmakers, stencil artists, graffiti writers and designers using the streets for art as a "creative tool for social change." Members pick a yearly theme and exchange and post work on the streets across the nation.
  Themes have included prisons, mass media, utopia, and land and globalization.

• Social Sculpture Research Unit (Oxford Brookes University, England)
  " an interdisciplinary research and practice network inspiring new thinking, engagement and action in the field of social sculpture and related practices -- developing insights, methods and practices toward a humane and ecologically sustainable future -- creating opportunities for new forms of enquiry and transformative action in which we are creative participants -- supporting research on social sculpture and connective practices, including material on its influences and evolution -- connecting and contributing to the growing community of practitioners in social sculpture and related fields.

• Vera List Center for Arts and Politics (The New School, NYC)
  Organizes public events, forums, online programs, and occasional publications focusing on "cultural production that emerges within and outside the traditional art world and seeks to intervene in contemporary political debates." Each year focuses on a theme wherein the Center convenes "artists, scholars, activists, public intellectuals, and political and cultural leaders to examine this theme."

• Voting Booth Project
  Where Art and Democracy Collide....
  Parsons School of Design, October 8-November 15, 2004.
  Artists, architects and designers transform Votomatic booths used in the 2000 presidential election in Florida

• WPS1
  P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center: Art radio on the web