Vibrant Pittsburgh’s Post

🎨 How Public Art Changes the World for the Better 🎨 Public art is more than just decoration – it's a powerful tool for social change and community building. From murals that tell the stories of marginalized communities to sculptures that challenge our perceptions, public art has the ability to transform spaces and inspire action. One of my favorite examples is [insert specific example or story]. This piece not only beautified the neighborhood but also sparked important conversations about [insert relevant social issue]. It's a reminder that art is a universal language that can bridge divides and bring people together.Public art creates a sense of identity and pride, encourages community engagement, and can even drive economic development by attracting visitors and businesses to the area. It's a testament to the power of creativity and collaboration. **Have you experienced the impact of public art in your community? Share your stories and favorite pieces below!** ⬇️ #PublicArt #CommunityBuilding #SocialChange #ArtForGood #CreativeImpact

How Do We Decide Whose Stories Are Told? In history, a crucial question often arises: Whose stories get told? This shapes not only how we view the past but how we teach it. Art provides a unique way to explore this, especially when discussing race, gender, and representation in Early US History. Join Cherish Christopher from the Philadelphia Museum of Art on October 16, 2024, at 7:30 pm ET for the webinar, Whose Stories Get Told? Art and Historical Perspectives. Learn how art can be used as a primary source to highlight stories often left out of mainstream historical accounts. By examining cultural history through art, this session will help teachers bring new perspectives into their classrooms, fostering discussions about who is represented in history—and who isn’t. Webinar Details Date & Time: October 16, 2024, at 7:30 pm ET Presenter: Cherish Christopher, Philadelphia Museum of Art Sign up and learn how to make history lessons more inclusive! https://ow.ly/lUYI50THirw

A fabulous art installation and concept (in the brilliant MONA), illuminating a pressing current conundrum. Can contemporary exclusion address (and meaningfully illuminate) past inequality without perpetuating further undue discrimination? You could say yes, it’s a temporary fix to balance the scales. Or you could argue it’s just more of the same old problem, in a new package. Maybe the sweet spot? A little exclusion, done right, and with an expiration date. Meanwhile, Mona - Museum of Old and New Art gets more (and deserved) attention. A fabulous place to go. (And while you're in Hobart, just take the time and go over to Bruny Island, sit down at Get Shucked, and have the freshest and best oysters you'll eat in your life.) #equalityforall #ethicalquestions #artandjustice #balancingthepast #socialjusticeconversation #thoughtfuldiscourse #inclusionmatters #openhearteddebate #artwithmeaning #genderequality https://lnkd.in/etkqMkki

"It is easy to do the work you want to do," they say. True, indeed! But it also entails taking time for self-care. To walk the talk, I recently took a break to explore contexts beyond my usual sphere, delving into the vibrant tapestry of London – one of the most diverse hubs. 💜 Passionate about my work, I find references to its essence everywhere. Allow me to share three Friday insights: 💥 Guerilla Girls' Bold Statement: Tate Modern also showcased the works of the Guerilla Girls – an anonymous feminist collective, active in London. With daring words and bold imagery, they expose injustices in the art world and society, particularly racism, sexism, and homophobia. Their weapon? Humor, wit, and sarcasm, challenging the status quo of the museum industry since their formation in 1985. Unfortunately, their messages remain relevant even today! Let's not forget this amazing legacy. 💥 Thamesmead Codex by Patrick Brill: Patrick Brill's Thamesmead Codex documents the histories and identities of Thamesmead's inhabitants, focusing on underprivileged groups. By recording past memories and hopes for a post-Covid future, Brill emphasizes the role of arts in democratic life, particularly in amplifying the voices of marginalized communities. 💥 Babel 2001 at Tate Modern: Amidst the bustling galleries, I encountered Cildo Meireles’s sculpture of radios playing at once, titled Babel 2001. This artwork alludes to the biblical tale of Babel, symbolizing information overload and failed communication. Just as the biblical narrative speaks of division stemming from misunderstanding, London, like a magnifying lens, showcases diversity but also provides avenues for unity and belonging. In conclusion, the struggle for equality, inclusion, and belonging permeates every facet of social life. Though it may seem cliché, it's vital to remember: art mirrors our ongoing fight for rights, revealing that claiming one's rights is seldom peaceful. 🎯 Addressing societal patterns necessitates action in all spheres, including the workplace. #DiversityandInclusion #SocialJustice #Artivism #FridayReflections

We explore curatorial projects that give voice to communities that have been disfranchised by the ideology of neo-liberalism. Defining contemporary art galleries as public spheres, curatorial projects that are based in dialogue and dialogics reveal the conflicting and contradictory aspects of dominant cultural narratives. Through collaborative and participatory methods, progressive we co-create artworks with communities, creating alternatives to the traditional gallery system in which artists, artworks, audiences and institutions are abstracted from the world around them. With a focus on the work of artists Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge, and their collaborations with individuals representing various communities – labour organizations, activist groups, cultural groups and the art world – insurgent curating is defined in terms of dialogue-based activism. Dialogue-based projects are championed as ways to catalyse emancipatory insights and the critique of neo-liberal capitalism.

The @tlantic Xplorers are sending you a virtual reminder that we are in this together. They perceive 'Resistance' as an unwavering collective force driven by unity and determination, never holding back in adversity. It is the call to join as one cohesive front, recognising our shared struggle, and pushing forward without restraint. Resistance represents the strength found when people unite. This zine is a virtual reminder that meaningful change demands unified action. The @tlantic Xplorers, an innovative youth collective, delved into the profound concept of 'People, Power, and Resistance' through a thought-provoking zine-making project inspired by the Black Atlantic exhibition at The Fitzwilliam Museum. Each student contemplated the personal significance of these themes and their relevance to individuals and communities. Through introspective questions, they chose a word, reflected on its essence and importance to them, and then swapped zines - challenging peers to understand and communicate each other's perspectives. This collaborative FUTURE/POWER project between The Fitzwilliam Museum, Museum X, and Soham Village College empowers young voices to engage in interdisciplinary research spaces. By exploring complex themes through creative expression, they influence and develop the knowledge our future societies will build upon. 🔗 Find out more about this inspiring collaboration: https://lnkd.in/eDzaYvMq 🎨 Artwork created collaboratively by members of the @tlantic Xplorers collective, Soham Village College. #YouthVoices #ResistanceTogether #BlackAtlanticExhibition #MuseumCollaboration #CreativeExpression #EmpoweringYouth #FuturePower #Codesign

Eight years ago, during my tenure as Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at the Roswell Museum, I started learning about federal community art centers, a remarkable New Deal initiative that remains one of the most expansive art-sharing programs in the history of the United States. Ever since I learned about this program, I've wanted to map its history digitally so that researchers could follow the movement of art exhibitions, observe the opening and closing of art centers, and trace the migrations of art center personnel as they were assigned to different sites. Today, I'm happy to share I've taken a first step toward this long-term goal by creating a StoryMap about federal community art centers. Here, I share all the information I've learned about them since 2016, from the addresses of specific sites to the contents of circulating exhibitions. This StoryMap, in short, represents eight years of ongoing research and analysis. More than a repository for my research though, this project is an invitation to other researchers interested in federal community art centers. I'm asking everyone interested in this initiative to share their data so we can compile all our research in one place. This program is too vast for one person to document, and I know there are others as passionate about it as I am. So let's get together and share our data. Together, we can document this significant but understudied initiative. #newdeal #digitalhumanities #federalcommunityartcenter https://lnkd.in/eenEHd_p

History is not just an assemblage of dates, events, and names; it's the collective story of humanity, shaping our present and influencing our future. However, for centuries, history has often been told from a narrow perspective, omitting crucial voices and perspectives, leaving only fragments of the whole story. When parts of the story are missing, history loses its vibrancy, leaving a distorted reflection of reality. Uncovering overlooked perspectives gives us a more nuanced understanding of the past and its implications on the present. In this week’s Destinology, we explore how the Missouri History Museum brought a more comprehensive story of the 1904 World’s Fair to life in a new exhibit with the help of Ria Unson, a local artist with a personal connection to the Fair. #insights #storytelling #worldsfair

“The demand that the museum “keep pace with society” reflects an awareness that the present cannot be dehistoricized.” (Or ofc depoliticised) I’ve been wondering why it’s culture that need suffer at the hands of climate, food or peace protesters — instead of BigBadCompany headquarters, say, or directing their ire at political institutions?That said, I’m intrigued by the evolving role of museums as the politicising of these spaces highlights their transformation into dynamic public spheres. Museums have found themselves in a position of urban piazzas — needing to balance their (oft contested) historical mandates with the demands of a changing society — and, maybe most importantly (?) as a political space. This idea isn’t new, of course, Michael Warner has written about it in his 2002 book Publics and Counterpublics where he articulates the “ambiguities, even contradictions” of a public space. Hannah Arendt had something to say about it, too, so I’m in pretty good company scratching my head about this. “When people dismiss the “nonsensical” gesture of throwing soup at Leonardo’s 1503 Mona Lisa, they miss the poesis inherent in the symbolism of pumpkin soup within French diasporic freedom movements[...]” 🔗 Read Charlotte Kent piece in Artforum International Magazine https://bit.ly/45TAqTL 📸 Food rights activists from Riposte Alimentaire throw soup at Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa, 1503, Louvre, Paris, January 28, 2024. Photo: David Cantiniaux/AFPTV/AFP via Getty Images. #publicspace #protest #publicdiscourse #contemporaryart #art #politics