A pedagogy of activist art

In classrooms, community centers, museums, and alternative learning sites across the country, large numbers of young people are creating works of art--from murals and plays, to photographs and spoken word poetry--that question, challenge, and at times, impact existing conditions of inequality and injustice. Despite the popularity of such youth arts organizations, only recently have education researchers begun to examine the unique learning and teaching that occurs when arts are applied towards social justice aims. Through a qualitative study of youth perspectives on and observed experiences in a small activist art class, this study analyzes the educational value of activist art making. The findings presented here highlight three key processes that are fundamental to the development of a work of activist art: connecting, questioning, and translating. An analysis of the nature of these processes both in practice, and as they are characterized in educational scholarship, suggests that the practice of making activist art is a rich space for learning and teaching. An emerging pedagogy of activist art offers a model for understanding and facilitating activist art making as an educational practice. This theory highlights the duality of activist art making, whereby participants both direct and experience the learning and teaching required of creating artwork with social justice aims. In a field still struggling to define itself, this study provides a clear articulation of what learning and teaching actually happens when young people create activist art--an articulation drawn from both youth perspectives and researcher interpretations. Finally, this overview of the pedagogy of activist art points to a series of suggested tools for those interested in facilitating activist art programs with young people. In a political and educational landscape where youth are often silenced and ignored, the implications of a pedagogy of activist art point to the ways in which this practice may serve as an important means for empowering young people to actively engage in and affect the world around them.