Discursive Underground Summary

1. The culture of art students is diverse and always changing. Once, it was an exclusive club reserved for those who could afford to toil away in expensive private art schools in Europe. Now, it is accessible to almost everyone attending college.

The article “Book Tackles Old Debate: Role of Art in Schools” by Robin Pogrebin explains the influence of art and the conclusion of two researchers, Ellen Winner and Lois Hetland. “Students who study the arts seriously are taught to see better, to envision, to persist, to be playful and learn from mistakes, to make critical judgements and justify such judgements,” conclude both researchers.

Education is important as we develop a society of lifelong learners, but budget cuts for schools should not be at the expense of art programs. All students have unique learning styles and ways they best absorb information. To compromise that process is destructive to the success of their overall learning experience. “The Sanctuary of School” makes the reader aware of the many individuals who go through the public-school system. Barry’s essay advocates the need for funding of art programs and the supportive, creative outlets they

During college, students should allow for open-mindedness, allow the suspension of everyday norms and judgements, and give a standing to everyone. Art offers escape from the silencing that comes in a “normal” society, making it possible to face highly charged and taboo subjects. Written dialogues can also strip away the armor we think we need to protect our place in the

Having posted this on World-Post, which is a news and blog website created through a partnership between Liberal news aggregator Huffington Post and a nonpartisan powerhouse, the Berggruen Institute on Governance, allows for this essay to not get exposed to the pro STEM or anti-arts parties. Sparking up the discussion of reintroducing the arts back into everyday society’s curriculum, you need to direct this essay towards both the audience, and the individuals who have the power to make this change. If Ma bring up a primarily pro-art focused paper, and only shares this piece of writing with mostly fellow supports of the arts, Ma misses the “equilibrium” that he spoke so highly about. If we can’t have both sides of the spectrum be able to analyze and discuss the ideas presented in this paper, then it’s going to be close to impossible to enact any change within society to reintroduce more of the arts back into

In the contemplation of art, or rather the conceptually intangible definition it currently possess, it is imperative to be mindful that “art” has been utilized as a promotional device, ceremonial item, aesthetically purposed article or perhaps none of these or all. It is because of this vague term that Carolyn Dean, in her text, “The Trouble with (The Term) Art”, makes a case for the consequences of applying the term “art” in societies that lacked such a notion which also accounts for the Western-centric lens the field intrinsically utilizes when viewing non-Western art. The claim is deftly supported by the utilization of expert accounts in the subject, alternative perspectives for what is considered the current norm, and self-examining questions,

African Americans always had a great influence in the United States throughout time from the beginning of slavery. African Americans, since the start of slavery, always expressed themselves artistically, where it was through music or art. From making patchwork quilts, slaves used their artistic expression to help conduct the Underground Railroad and escape slavery. To be defined as “illiterate savages” African Americas proved many wrong with their exceptional skills presented in many different styles of artwork. From slavery throughout the 19th century, there were a great number of African Americans whom contributed to the United States through artistic expression, with creating artwork that would either be judged or discredited. For example, Robert S. Duncanson, Edward M. Bannister, Mary Edmonia Lewis, and Henry Ossawa Tanner were all 19th century African American artists who each faced their own individual challenges to achieve acclaim as artists.

This Summer, I had the opportunity to spend my entire break attending conferences and interning at a lab at UCSD so I thought to myself I would never have the time to visit any art museum or do my summer assignments for that matter. That was until I realized I was living at a campus who had an art piece practically on every corner of their six colleges. I then began my journey, on scooter, to discover the hidden and the not so hidden gems The Stuart Collection at UCSD had to offer. It was then that I fell in love with 2 specific art pieces throughout the campus, those being Do Ho Suh’s Fallen Star, which depicts an immigrant’s transition into American culture, and Kiki Smith’s Standing, which depicts a seemingly tortured woman.

Systematic racism continues to perpetuate the marginalization of people of color in the 21st century despite belief of living in a post racial society. This unfortunate reality is seen in many different forms of current culture. One of the ways systematic racism takes current form, is in the negative portrayal created by a single narrative, or the lack thereof, minority groups. This lack of representation or diversity of people of color in different forms of art and platforms, not only affects those subject to misrepresentation, but perpetuates negative attitudes and discriminatory behavior towards those subject to misrepresentation. It is necessary to look into the ways this single narrative in different art forms affects marginalized group, and the current move to dismantle the component power plays in who gets to tell these stories.

In an attempt to prepare the art educator to the paradigm shift in classroom and develop a cohesive curriculum this would comprise the needs of the students and teachers to think about cultures different from their own. While I admire McFee’s interest in cultural diversity and the plight of African Americans. However, her essay is written from a privileged White middle-class perceptive with about her understanding of African Americans. How does McFee identify six major areas of social change in America of the sixties? More importantly, how does the stereotypes of African Americans influence art, education, and society?

Fred Wilson is an art activist for minority groups, especially the African American population, which in today`s generation, is looked upon as the unseen minority group (Grinberg 2012). Wilson creates innovative exhibitions to display art and artifacts found in museum collections with arrangements that represent minority contemporary artists. His ideas lead the audience to acknowledge that changes in the perceptive view transform the whole meaning of what is presented.

I fell in love with methodologies of art history. I felt empowered in that, through my own interpretations, I could attach words and meaning to objects. My study of art history reached a turning point when, in 2012, I took a class entitled Identity in a Post-Identity Art World: Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Trans/Nationality, 1990 to the Present. The course endowed me with another lens with which to examine works and, more importantly, shed light on representations of marginalized identities. As a result, I was introduced to the writings of Judith Butler and Simone de Beauvoir, both seminal theorists who inspired my own analyses. I enjoyed every minute of conducting research and forming arguments to support my claims. Ultimately I was interested in developing my understanding of issues in contemporary art further and sought to accomplish this by engaging with a larger

When asked why is there a need for African American studies? One must understand the Eurocentric and political game the American school system imposes on young children African American students are bombarded with negative stereotypes throughout primary school and sometimes even college. The American school curriculum has a conservative effort in glorifying everything European from European art, history and music, while African American history is crammed in the month of February. During this month African American history starts with the slave trade and ends with Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream speech.” They refuse to enlighten students on the great African empires or the great African American inventors. Instead they are educated about slavery and how they were savages before the intervention of Europeans. Therefore, leaves lots of African American students ashamed of their history and creates this negative perspective of not wanting to be black. This leads to the question Malcom X stated in his speech, “who taught you to hate yourself?”

Moreover, other pieces show the lives and struggles black people have endured since their freedom in the 1960s. Stevens, Ellis, and various students’ art depict the reality of black history in a time when much of black history has been forgotten or altered . The pieces show

During the early twentieth century, art education was seen as unproductive and more often not cost effective. However, in the 1950’s opinions about art education made a drastic change as Americans craved more self-expression. Art education began to flourish as the importance of art involvement became known (DeHoyas).