The histories between African American and Asian American communities have been both fraught with tension and interwoven with solidarities, as seen in the recent Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests in 2020, anti-Asian attacks, and the Stop Asian Hate movement. Afro--Asian tension is a symptom of systemic White supremacy, which constructs hierarchies…

Many scholars and educators are moving toward an anti-oppressive paradigm in art education, transitioning away from imposing norms in an effort to think more creatively about teaching practices and classroom culture (Kraehe, 2019). Reflecting deeper on her position as a White, middle-class, female teacher who taught in an underserved community,…

In this article, Chelsea Odden describes a unit she designed for her advanced drawing course that integrated reflection strategies at various points, creating opportunities for students to reflect on their artmaking more often and in different ways (Hetland, Winner, Veenema, & Sheridan, 2013). Designing the unit with several different…

The practices of artists and the field of artistic production is an iterative space--a rapidly evolving network of ideas and dialogic strategies, as well as collaborative and interdisciplinary practices. Artists function at the intersection of many disciplines as researchers, activists, and problem solvers. These practices provide an imperative to…

In this time of heightened political and social unrest in the United States, the higher education classroom has become a space where preservice art education students can discuss issues of identity and social interaction, including stories of "surviving" holiday dinners. Students often report that during meals with family and friends,…

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is a dynamic classroom approach in which students actively use driving questions to explore real-world problems and acquire deeper knowledge through constructive investigations (Stepien & Gallagher, 1993; Thomas, 2000). Although not a new pedagogical approach, PBL has recently gained in popularity and come to the…

Over the summer of 2015, the Plug-In Studio (a new media art collective) collaborated with a group of African American teen artists from Chicago's South Side on a series of art videogames. The teen artists selected issues important to them as the subjects for the games: White privilege, racial profiling, police misconduct, and others. Working…

This article describes an instructional resource that offers a framework for talking with students about violence through the work of artist Melvin Edwards. Edwards' sculptures have explored the cultural turmoil of the 20th century, while leaving room for multiple interpretations and inviting the viewer's own perspective. For more than 50 years,…

In this article, we consider socially engaged design practice, and examine its potential for informing design curriculum and pedagogy in K-12 art education programs. Our hope is to prompt discussion and debate about socially engaged design's potentiality for preparing students to participate in a world in which "nothing is truly, or can…

Art educators and administrators allowed a project to evolve based on the "street life" experiences of ordinarily invisible people. The goal was to create a space or number of spaces for celebrating the human spirit through art, music, dance, poetry, theater, and story while also providing a forum for exploring some of the social issues affecting…

This Instructional Resource is based on the authors' current efforts as part of an interdisciplinary project where artists, community members, engineers, social activists, and educators are working together to make positive change in people's lives. Water, as a subject, symbol, and life-sustaining substance, is the focus of their work and the…

Photography is a powerful medium with which to explore social issues and concerns through the intersection of artistic form and concept. Through the discussions of images and suggested activities, students will understand various ways photographers have documented and addressed racism and discrimination. This Instructional Resource presents a…

Critical media literacy art education teaches students to: (1) appreciate the aesthetic qualities of media; (2) critically negotiate meanings and analyze media culture as products of social struggle; and (3) use media technologies as instruments of creative expression and social activism. In concert with art education practices oriented toward…

Rooted in graffiti culture and its attitude toward the world, street art is regarded as a postgraffiti movement. Street art encompasses a wide array of media and techniques, such as traditional spray-painted tags, stickers, stencils, posters, photocopies, murals, paper cutouts, mosaics, street installations, performances, and video projections…

Art and society must become mutually involved in order that the significance and value of art be realized. (RK)