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3/08/2023

FSU Hosts 11th Art and Education for Social Justice Symposium

People work in a classroom
The symposium hosted over 40 presentations by researchers and practitioners, hailing from two countries outside the US and over 15 US states, and brought an additional 50 attendees to the William Johnston Building.

The Department of Art Education, in partnership with the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art and the School of Social Work, hosted the 11th Art and Education for Social Justice Symposium* on and around the Florida State University campus between February 3-5, 2023. The goal of the interdisciplinary event was to include and amplify voices often on the margins of academia and to share theories, methodologies, and results of art and education practices that strive to have a direct public impact. Symposium presentations, conversations, and collaborations responded to the guiding question: “How are art and education inspiring, affecting, and promoting social change?” 

Dr. Tenley Bick (Art History) at MoFA. Photo by Professor Meredith Lynn

The symposium hosted over 40 presentations by researchers and practitioners, hailing from two countries outside the US and over 15 US states, and brought an additional 50 attendees to the William Johnston Building. The event began with a keynote presentation by Tatiana Daguillard, a Project Manager with Blueprint, and independent arts consultant Amanda Thompson titled “Making Memory Artful: The Making of the History and Culture Trail” and concluded with a guided dialogue session that lead to a collective exhibition on display in William Johnston Building’s Gallery 1006. The exhibition, titled “I Commit To…,” documented how Symposium presenters and attendees and FSU students and faculty vowed to promote social change in their respective communities.

Faculty and graduate students from all four programs that make up the Department of Art Education (Art Education, Museum Education & Visitor-Centered Curation “EC”, Arts Administration, and Art Therapy) presented their research. We also enjoyed partnering with colleagues across the College of Fine Arts. Dean James Frazier delivered the opening remarks and spoke to the importance of equity in the arts, Dr. Kristin Dowell (Art History) facilitated a workshop and screening around Indigenous Films and Artist Resurgence; Professor Meredith Lynn (Art) hosted attendees at MoFA, where Dr. Tenley Bick (Art History) spoke on the exhibition she recently curated, titled “Un sentimento di libertá | A Feeling of Freedom: New Italians in the Work of Luigi Christopher Veggetti Kanku.” Professor Terry Londy (Interior Architecture and Design) participated behind the scenes on curating the “I commit to…” exhibition with us.


 

A group watches a presentation in a large lecture hall
Keynote presentation by Tatiana Daguillard (Blueprint) and Amanda Thompson (independent arts consultant)

The Department of Art Education is deeply grateful to the Symposium Planning Committee, co-chaired by Rachel Fendler and Amber Ward. In particular, we want to thank the graduate students who served with us: Illyanna Soares (Symposium Coordinator), Kara Fedje, Minki Jeon, and Ashley Williams. We would also like to especially thank MoFA art educators, Annie Booth and Zida Wang, for coordinating the reception at MoFA. We look forward to seeing everyone again at the 12th Art and Education for Social Justice Symposium in Athens, Georgia, in 2025. 

*Dr. Jill Pable (Interior Architecture and Design) who co-created and chaired the inaugural Social Justice Symposium in 2006.