Aurora Macek

Unit 3 Rationale

Unit 3, Community Installation Sculpture, is intended to be a concluding project for Art

and Activism: A Critical Exploration of Social Studies Through Art that integrates concepts from

previous units surrounding power dynamics, community-based arts, artistic influence within a

community, street art, and social justice. In this project, students will work in groups to create a

larger than life sculpture that brings awareness to a social issue of the group's choice meant for

installation at a site-specific location.

Students will work in conjunction with local community organizations associated with

their social issue. Students will investigate how that organization has helped bring social change

and integrate this research into their final sculpture. Once the sculpture is created, it will be

disassembled and reinstalled at the site of their chosen community center location. This unit is

meant to create agency for students advocating for social change and to teach them how to make

an impact through their art within their communities.

 Art and Activism: A Critical Exploration of Social Studies Through Art
Community Installation Sculpture
Objective
Given a presentation on installation art, a choice of media, multiple resources, and working in
small groups, students will research a community center or public space that aligns with their
chosen social issue. Within their small group's students will affectively create a larger than life
sculpture reflective of their social issue that illustrates the knowledge between content, formal
qualities, complex themes, their chosen social issue, and technical skill. Students will work in
conjunction with their selected community center to set up an installation location for their
sculpture that is site specific to their chosen social issue.
Concepts
Throughout the course of this unit, you will be utilizing the concepts below through working in
conjunction with a local community organization to create an installation sculpture reflective of a
social issue that informs your community in hopes of bringing forth positive social change.
These concepts emphasize the importance of using personal power to create change, working
with others to build better communities for ourselves and our loved ones, and understanding
power dynamics. When conducting research and working with local community organizations,
refer to the following concepts to help construct and generate ideas for your sculptures.
 Art is used by activists and activist organizations to change society for the better.
 Challenging dominant forces of knowledge/power through art builds advocacy for social
change.
 Artist inquiry about community and local social issues can lead to positive social change.
 Critical reflection about art can help us make decisions necessary to incite social change.
 Art is used as a tool to educate people in order to open a dialogue for change.
Theme Development
Within this unit, the formal qualities of your sculpture should reflect your thematic choices. After
picking a social issue you are passionate about, you will team up with classmates that have made
a similar choice as you. Your groups chosen social issue will be the theme for your final project.
During this process, you should be thinking of which qualities you can incorporate to help
communicate your group’s theme and stance towards the chosen social issue. Think of previous
lessons, how artists have used juxtaposition, location, and easily identifiable objects to the
viewer make necessary connections. Refer to Unit 1 Lesson 3: Upcycled Sculptures to help with
the technical skills necessary to construct a sculpture. Although our class has already created
works that inform about current social issues, this unit will help spread awareness to a larger
audience by placing it in a public space, and help us to understand how our art can have a direct
affect in our communities. Refer to concepts from the scope and sequence to help generate ideas
of how you can affect social change.
Overview
You will choose a social justice issue that is of great importance to you, or one that you feel
deeply passionate about. After choosing a social issue that you would like to make art about, you
will form groups with your classmates that have similar interests as you regarding social justice.
Group sizes should be no larger than five people. After researching your social issue within your
group, you will investigate activist or community organizations within your city that are
advocating or aiding in creating positive social change. Group members will contact these
organizations to further investigate calls to action or changes these groups have made. This
research will be integrated into the final product of a larger than life sculpture meant to be
installed on the grounds of these various organizations. Through working with local activist and
community organizations, you will create a sculpture reflective of your groups chosen social
issue and the change accomplished by your chosen community organization. The purpose of
installing these sculptures in site specific locations is to further investigate the connections made
between context and content when placing art within public spaces, to work as artists with
members of our community, as well as to reach a wider audience in hopes of affecting positive
social change. These sculptures will be made in class but will need to be able to be deconstructed
and reassembled in order to transport them to site specific locations. Once sculptures are
installed, the group must plan an event within their community to reveal your works and inform
members of the community about the organization your group is working with. After opening
exhibitions, a field trip will be made to each site-specific sculpture around the city so that group
members can present their work to the class.
Each student within the group will create a blueprint for possible sculpture ideas that link formal
qualities to conceptual ideas. Once everyone in the group has completed a blueprint, the group
will present their ideas to each other and come up with a final, single prototype for their final
sculpture. Because these sculptures will have to be deconstructed and reassembled at the
installation site, remember to include plans for the disassembly and reassembly process in your
blueprints. Group members will work together on the creation, construction, and installation of
the sculpture, but each group member must be delegated one of the following roles in order to
complete the required tasks for this project.

1. Group Ambassador- Responsibilities of this role will include contacting local community
center or activist organizations to gain access to their grounds for installation, as well as
conduct research on how their organization has tried to make change related to your
groups chosen social issue within your community. This role is essentially the person
who will be communicating with community members to gain approval for installation.
2. Info-Graph Creator- In order to further inform your viewing audience about your chosen
social issue, your group must create an info-graph that demonstrates research surrounding
your social issue. This info-graph should include information about why the fight for
social justice surrounding your chosen issue is so important. This infograph should be
included in the opening exhibition for your groups piece as well as your presentation to
the class during the class field trip. This role is responsible for gathering necessary
information and creating an info-graph to be displayed on Presentation style posterboard.
3. Group Marketer- This person will create posters and social media posts to advertise your
groups opening exhibition. The Group Marketer is responsible for marketing not only the
exhibition, but the chosen community center or activist organization that the group is
working in conjunction with. Social media posts should include resources so viewers can
possibly help with their local community centers or inform them of resource that could
 help them surrounding your groups chosen issue. Brochures should also be provided
during the opening exhibition that inform viewers about the chosen local community
organization or activist group.
4. Head Host- This person will be in charge of talking to guests, directing them towards
info-graphs, handing out brochures, and delivering an opening exhibition speech.
If there are five members in your group, one member will be the Utility Role, responsible for
keeping group members on tasks with their roles and helping wherever necessary. A calendar
will be provided to give your group a timeline and keep you on task. The three major
components of this project will be a research component, a construction component, and an
installation/exhibition component.
Research Component
During this stage in your process, here are some questions that your group might want to
brainstorm to help get you started.

1. What is your chosen social issue?

2. Why is it important to bring awareness to this issue?
3. What possible changes in society could be made to bring a resolution to this social issue?
4. Who is affected by this social issue?
5. What can be done to help the people affected by your chosen social issue?
6. What are some community centers or local organizations that work to bring positive
social change that relates to your groups social issue?
The group needs to cite at least five resources that were used in conducting research about
your groups chosen social issue. These sources should be informative about the social issue,
not the community organization your group wants to work with. However, research about
your groups chosen community organization needs to be completed for the next part of the
research component.
For this component of the unit, you will also need to think about what kinds of organizations
might be working for social justice in relation to your social issue. Some examples might be:

 If your group’s chosen social issue is environmentalism, you might work in conjunction
with a recycling center, a forest preserve, an uncycled clothing store, or a local
organization that volunteers to clean up public spaces, etc.
 If your groups chosen social issue is domestic violence, you might work in conjunction
with local women’s centers, domestic violence survivor homes, etc.
 If your groups chosen social issue is animal rights, you might work in conjunction with
an animal shelter, animal adoption agency, rescue dog location, etc.
Some questions you might consider while conduction this research:

1. How does this organization relate to your groups chosen social issue?
2. How is this organization working to create positive social change?
3. What resources does this organization offer to community members to aid them in relief
surrounding your chosen social issue?
 4. How will your sculpture help aid this community organization in enacting positive social
change?
Here are some resources to help get you started in conducting your research about community
centers and activist organizations:
https://sportadvisory.com/the-positive-impact-of-community-recreation-centers/
https://dekalbcountyonline.com/2018/03/sycamore-park-district-announces-opening-day-of-
community-center-and-new-service-desk-hours/
https://sportadvisory.com/community-center-benefits-small-town/
https://www.thehotline.org/
https://www.womanspace-rockford.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nature_centers_in_the_United_States
https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/
https://www.activistfacts.com/organizations/
Construction Component
Each member of your group will create their own blueprint using formal qualities that are
reflective of your groups chosen social issue. Once each member of their group has created a
draft of the final sculpture, your group will vote on a final blueprint idea. Formal qualities in the
sculpture must be reflective of your chosen social issue and fit within the context where your
group is planning to install. These sculptures must be larger than life size, but able to deconstruct
and reassemble. You might want to think of how your sculpture can be broken down into smaller
parts and able to reconstruct on site. When creating these sculptures, think of materials. The
materials your group choses should be able to stand the conditions in a public space for a weeks
time.
During the course of the construction component, your group will have 3 check-ins, one prior to
construction, one in the middle of construction, and one near the end of construction.
Think of the following questions before creating your blueprint drafts.
Will your sculpture be abstract? If so, how will the formal qualities reflect your social issue?
Will the sculpture be representational? What objects are you recreating to represent your social
issue?
How will your sculpture inform the public about your selected social issue?
Why did you choose the site you did for installation?
What materials will you use in the construction of your sculpture?
How do you plan to disassemble and reassemble your sculpture?
Installation/Exhibition Component
These sculptures will be constructed in class over the course of two weeks. On the final week,
groups will install sculptures at site specific locations. Sculptures should be designed in a way
that reduces installation time. Groups will have three days to install their exhibition, and on the
final day of the unit, all groups will have an opening exhibition. Since locations of exhibitions
will be determined on a group by group basis, a field trip will be taken to all onsite locations
prior to the opening exhibitions so that each group can present their work to the class and use it
as practice for their opening exhibition.
*If group members are younger than 18, they will need to bring a completed permission slip
from their guardian allowing them to leave campus for installation days.
*Each group is required to have a chaperone to oversee the installation process.
Your group should have marketed this event to community members via flyers, posters, and
social media. Included in the opening exhibition should be a final sculpture presentation on site
location, accompanied by an info-graph informing the public about your groups chosen social
issue, and a pamphlet informing viewers about the local community center or activist
organization your group has been working with. Brochures should include the resources your
community center or activist groups offer to those affected by your social issue, as well as
information about their aid in positive change within your community.
Final presentations about your sculpture should include:

1. Your groups selected social issue.

2. Info-graph information surrounding your groups selected social issue.
3. Why your group included the formal qualities that they did in order to communicate a
message about that social issue to the viewer.
4. What materials were used in the construction of your sculpture.
5. Information about your selected activist organization or community center and the work
they do to help create positive social change.
 Permission Slip for Sculpture Installation
Over the course of a month, your students have been working diligently in creating
sculptures meant to be installed in a site-specific public location. Students will have three
days to install (xxxx), and be accompanied by a chaperone. Students will board a school bus,
exit at site location with their groups and chaperone, assemble their sculptures, and be picked
up and brought back to school.
Student name: _____________________________________________________________
I __________________________, give my student permission to leave school campus from
(insert dates here) in order to install their public sculpture
Parent/Guardian Signature: ___________________________________________________
 Installation Approval Form

____________________________ hereby give permission to ________________________

(organization name) (student names)
To install their public works sculpture on the grounds of our organization.
_________________________________________________
(Supervising signature)
 1 2 3 4 5
Poor Needs Satisfactory Very Excellent
Improvem Good
ent
Research Component
Evidence of research about
social issue shown in
infographs and group
presentation.
Coordination with activist
group or community
organization.
Construction Component
Effort, craftsmanship, and
durability of sculpture.
Formal qualities reflect
chosen social issue.
Participation with group in
blue print design and
construction.
Ability to keep timeline.
Installation/Exhibition
Component
Participation installation and
group exhibition.
Completion of assigned
role.
Willingness to inform
viewers about art work.
Marketing geared towards
exhibition.
Exhibition Presentation.
 Unit: 3 Title: Using Art as an Agent for Change
1) Introduction to 2) Research 3) Research 4) Research + 5) Research +
the Project Production Production
-Introduce -Research the social -Discuss research -Each member -Share sculpture
Installation issue (problem) within groups creates draft of drafts with group
Sculpture PP. -Research possible -Select organization installation -Create final
-Discussion on solutions to coincide with sculpture sculpture draft
site location. -Research possible social issue -Installation site has -Create plan for
-Select Social organizations -Contact been secured disassembly/reasse
Issue/ Choose associated with your organization -Formal qualities mbly
Groups. topic. should reflect social
issues
6) Production + 7) Production 8) Production 9) Production 10) Production
Group Check In
-Share plans for -Work on -Work on -Work on -Work on
assembly and construction of construction of construction of construction of
installation with sculpture sculpture sculpture sculpture
teacher -Teacher will be -Teacher will be -Teacher will be -Teacher will be
-Create a plan for present to help with present to help with present to help with present to help with
materials (size and technical technical technical technical
durability) aspects/construction aspects/construction aspects/construction aspects/construction
-Begin production ideas ideas ideas ideas
-Permission slips -Brain storm social -Begin creation of
due media promotion promotional
materials
11) Production + 12) Production 13) Production 14) Production + 15) Production +
Group Check In Exhibition Planning Exhibition Planning
-Work on -Work on -Work on -Work on -Work on
construction of construction of construction of construction of construction of
sculpture sculpture sculpture sculpture sculpture
-Inform teacher of -Teacher will be -Teacher will be -Teacher will be -Teacher will be
any technical issues present to help with present to help with present to help with present to help with
-Plans for technical technical technical technical
disassembly and aspects/construction aspects/construction aspects/construction aspects/construction
transport ideas ideas ideas ideas
-Flyers should be
distributed for
promotion

16) Production + 17) Installation 18) Installation Installation + Field Trip

Disassembly + Final Exhibition Prep Presentation +
Group Check In Exhibition
-Disassemble -Travel to site -Travel to site -Travel to site -Presentation of
sculpture and get it location and install location and install location and install artwork to group
ready for transport -Communicate with -Communicate with -Communicate with -Exhibition with
-Final meeting with community center community center community center community
teacher -Infograph should center/activist group
-Update on be completed
communication with -Brochures
site location completed