On September 5th, A Blade of Grass hosted a discussion with Kemi Ilesanmi, Executive Director of The Laundromat Project, Pepón Osorio, artist & Laura Carnell Professor of Community Art, Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadephia and George Emilio Sánchez, performance artist, writer & educator. The panelists considered this question as a starting point: how can dialogic teaching and learning be used as a strategy for social engagement? This learning process, originally developed by Paulo Freire, empowers people by giving them a forum for sharing their existing knowledge. It equalizes the teacher-student relationship by building education and problem-solving on a foundation of community-based practical understanding, raising awareness of social justice and other issues facing communities. Socially engaged art is rooted in communication and interaction, ideally creating experiences that bring people together to enact social change. How do methods of learning that foster dialogue influence the way socially engaged artists develop their practice? This panel brought together artists, administrators and educators who create artistic projects that use tools of participatory learning and audience empowerment to foster social engagement. Watch the videos now!
The Aesthetics of Doing is a series of panel discussions that bring together artists, scholars, administrators and other members of the art community for discussions that critically address socially engaged art as it is practiced and defined.
