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Community-Based, Place-Based, Participatory Approaches/Art Ed

Seth Morris and Kelsi Jones

University of Georgia

ARED 2110S

Devin Jo

October 31, 2023

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Community-Based, Place-Based, Participatory Approaches/Art Ed

Why do we need art and what is our category’s role in it?

Our category is needed in art because it typically exhibits people’s involvement in the
worldly issues (economic, social, environmental, etc.) and promotes change through forms of art.
The role it takes is through the act of transformation. The transformation of a space to address
problems globally or locally. This can be seen in a works of art created by students from Joy
Bertling’s class who drew sustainable versions of local community buildings that were not so
much before. One of her students made a drawing of a locally based Mellow Mushroom that
“will serve local vegetables on its pizzas and will use solar energy.” (Bertling, 2013, pg. 35) This
is just one of the very many examples that our category fulfills in its role through the realm of
art.

Which of these artistic approaches and teaching methods does the education category
provide/suggest?

Our category provides the opportunity to dig deep into issues of specific places. Last
semester, I was in a group project, and we made Dawg Dollars that were spread all over the
downtown Athens area to spread awareness about UGA’s involvement in our local homelessness
issue. We used a fake Hairy Dawg dollar bill because we knew that the money would grab the
attention of anyone who passed by. Through these artistic and teaching approaches, my group
and I were able to bring recognition to our community-based issue and hopes to combat it.
Projects like mine, Charity White’s Main St. and University Ave., and others are done widely
across the globe to bring about change for the better.

How does the education category of your choice promote students' active learning,
experiences, participation, and activism?

Our education category promotes students’ active learning, experiences, participation,

and activism through group projects. For instance, the creation of Chromatopia was made from
“university students, elementary students and parents, teachers and other community members,”
(Bergmark, 2019, pg. 50) and was all facilitated under leading artist, Amanda Browder. During
the project, people were learning how to sew with the help of tutorials and sewed large amounts
of different colored cloth altogether. Once the piece was done, it was laid over a portion of the
school, combatting the ideal look of a school, to be experienced by all involved as well as by the
rest of the community. Students’ active learning, experiences, participation, and activism through
group projects will all in all meet collective goals and more!

What other helpful teaching methods, strategies, educational/artistic recipes, etc. (for
educators and students) does your chosen education category offer?

A helpful teaching method that our education category has to offer is with doing high
amounts of research. When researching about an issue, community, or place, it would be helpful
to jot down what one already knows of it and dive into information to what is unknown about it.
The article, “Explorations of Place: Artists and Artworks of Southwest Louisiana” by Lynn
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Sanders-Bustle and Rebecca Williams, go into a similar yet different research strategy for
students too. Similar in that it broadens the understandings of students by digging into the
unknown, but different in how it gone about. Any research techniques though are bond be helpful
in uncovering information about a topic, but have to be careful about what is or is not reliable to
read!

Context/Background

What is the historical or socio-cultural background that gave rise to this education
category?
The rise came due to the ability to play art practically both outside and in schools. This allowed
for art to be used to serve the community, and it was practical to be able to see just where art
ended up. This form of education is especially useful in rural communities.

What are the core values, principles, and main educational approaches of the educational
category?
Communication and connection are the main principles of placed based, community
based, and participatory approaches in education. These allow students to be connected
throughout the learning process.

Who are the prominent or frequently mentioned authors/researchers/educators known in

this education category?

Alexis Rockman is a contemporary artist in placed based learning that discusses effects of human
behavior on the planet within his art. This connection to his own placee and the awareness he
creates allows for the connection of our own behaviors and its effects on the planet.

Significance and Implication

The importance of place based, community based, and participatory approaches in art education
is intertwined with its implication: that this form of art can be used to connect with and serve our
community and the people around us. As we learn through being close to our community and
where we are and connecting throughout the process, our students can learn to serve both others
and themselves through art.

2-3 contemporary artists who are related to the education category

- Joy Bertling
- Amanda Browder
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References

Bergmark, J. (2019). Creating Our Chromatopia. Art Education.

Bertling, J. (2013). Exercising the Ecological Imagination: Representing the Future of Place. Art
Education.

Bustle, L. S., & Williams, R. (2013). Explorations of Place: Artists and Artworks of Southwest
Louisiana. Art Education.

Danker, S. H. (2018). Art Activism Through a Critical Approach to Place: Charity White’s
Prescriptive Space. Art Education.

Hegeman, K., Bustle, L. S., & Hanawalt, C. (2020). Toward Emergent and Relational Curricula:
Engaging Preservice Teachers in Social and Interventionist Art Practices for an
Uncertain Future. Art Education.