Rationale 1:

To the Principal and Administrators of This School

In an effort to become more involved with the minority communities within this school,

we would like to propose a week dedicated to raising art activism awareness. As stated by The

Center for Artistic Activism, “Artistic activism is a dynamic practice combining the creative

power of arts to move us emotionally with the strategic planning of activism necessary to bring

about social change” (Duncombe & Lambert, 2018). We as educators, would like to implement

this practice within various disciplines to allow students, especially those that belong to minority

groups, an artistic outlet for self-expression. Giving students a creative platform to raise concerns

over an activist issue, or even to explore the artistic activism work of someone belonging to their

community, allows students to experience the “dynamic practice” of artistic activism (Duncombe

& Lambert, 2018). Although these activism endeavors may appear only beneficiary for minority

groups, this type of artistic activism helps other students become more knowledgeable over

issues that are important to their peers or learn about the influential leaders within a group.

Our proposal includes dedicating a week to exploring art activism inside the Asian and

Hispanic communities within our school; other minority groups are also more than welcome.

Several educators have created discipline specific lesson plans to discuss the subject of artistic

activism in various methods, such as creating actual art pieces. Along with these lesson plans, we

would like to hold a school-wide gallery walk to showcase art pieces created by our very own

students. A school-wide gallery walks “…is … well suited for an age of cell phone cameras and

social networks” (Duncombe & Lambert, 2018). We hope that the gallery walk will inspire all

students to become more culturally aware of the communities within this school and educate

themselves through the art pieces that will be present, to even share them on social media outlets.
 According to a case study discussed by Nieto and Bode, “When young people are

involved in meaningful activities outside an academic context… they find support that helps

[them] develop and reinforce their leadership and critical thinking skills” (Nieto & Bode, 2018)

As educators, we are deeply-committed to helping our students cultivate leadership and critical

thinking skills, through different mediums that may vary from the traditional school methods.

Through this artistic activism awareness project, we find it to be a perfect approach for students

to develop those skills through a careful analysis of activism work and its leaders. Even the

organization American for the Arts “argues that a child’s education is not complete unless it

includes the arts” (Nieto & Bode, 2018). We hope that by showcasing multiple artistic activism

work pieces from various communities, students will draw their own conclusions of an art piece,

instead of relying on a straightforward answer on the significance of the art. Exhibiting art pieces

from our own students will demonstrate that art can be created by anyone and admired by any

group, regardless of their culture.

Finally, to quote the great John F. Kennedy “We must never forget art is not a form of

propaganda; it is a form of truth.” If permitting students, a chance to explore the truths of their

community through art methods is a form to allow for self-expression, artistic activism should be

more than encouraged, it should become embedded in our school culture. Artistic activism serves

as form of multicultural education because “Rather than… creating an aesthetic influenced by

different cultures…”, we can allow for each culture to be represented individually in their own

context and unique form (Lake, 2019). Whichever aesthetic approach our students decide to use

to express their artistic activism piece, we strive for it “to provide a critical perspective on the

world as it is and imagine the world as it could be” (Duncombe & Lambert, 2018). Art activism

within minority communities is bound to increase student involvement like never before.
 Resources:

Duncombe S., & Lambert S. (2018). Why artistic activism: Nine reasons. (n.l) The Center for

Artistic Activism

Bode P., & Nieto S. (2018). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural

education. Boston: Allyn & Bacon

Lake, Yvonne (2019). “Art Activism: The Assault on Art from Within.” Areo Magazine,

https://areomagazine.com/2019/01/24/art-activism-the-assault-on-art-from-within/