A must read article for artist/activists

This is an excellent article I ran across in Utne Magazine that I think emphasizes the importance of creative protest strategies in today's world. The article features designers, artists, and actors who reach their audiences through non-traditional forms of protest.

http://www.utne.com/2007-05-01/Politics/ProtestIsDeadLongLiveProtest.aspx

New Artist/Activists Links

Thanks to the students currently taking SOC 310: Art and Activism, I have been able to add links to some new artist/activists. The students this semester did a great job of choosing an interesting range of artist/activists for their midterm presentations, and as always, I learned a lot from looking at the different kinds of approaches that these talented artists take to addressing issues they were or are passionate about. Check out the new links on the right side of the page!

Help for Haiti

The students and faculty at the Academy raised a grand total of $260.50 for a donation to the American Red Cross for Haiti. Behind the Canvas kicked off the effort with a bake sale, and other contributions came from a bake sale held by Sarah Kaiser and her fundamentals students and donations made following Tom Herzberg's lunchtime lecture about his trip to Haiti.

We are happy to be able to contribute toward this cause, and appreciate all the students, faculty and staff who donated.

Funds for Haiti

Behind the Canvas held a bake sale last week with the intention of donating all proceeds to the American Red Cross to provide aid to earthquake victims in Haiti. The group raised $133, making this the most successful bake yet! We have asked the school to match the funds raised, and are waiting for a response to this request.

Faceless at Harper College

A special exhibition and event is coming up at Harper College in Palatine, IL on March 11, 2010. This event, Faceless, was started under the leadership of Ali Hussain, a graduate of the American Academy of Art, and a former student of mine in Art and Activism. Ali's charisma and passion for tearing down barriers of race and religion inspired him to propose the exhibition at Harper, where he is currently taking classes in web design.

Below are the details about the exhibition as posted on the Facebook group:

This is a group made for artists and spoken word poets who are interested in showcasing their work for a gallery on March 11th at Harper College.

The event is called Faceless and it is to showcase the true face of humanity and peace. Artists and poets have the ability to shape this world with their gifted talents and Faceless is an event giving them the opportunity to do just that.

The overall theme for the show is to allow viewers to see what the true face of "humanity" looks look like, by showcasing various styles and methods. 100% of the admission fee ($2 a person) will go to charity.

If you are interested in more details, join the group on Facebook, or contact the sponsoring group at faceless786@gmail.com

Helping Haiti

Behind the Canvas bake sales are back! The first bake sale of the semester will be held this Wednesday during the lunch hour in the second floor stairwell. The students are raising funds to contribute to the American Red Cross to provide assistance in Haiti. We hope to make this our most successful fund raiser yet, with the support of faculty, staff and students at the Academy.

New Year, New Books!

Last fall, Behind the Canvas held a very successful waffle sale and bake sale, and decided to present the proceeds to the Irving Shapiro Library for the purchase of new books, chosen by the students. The new books will be arriving in the library this week, and we are all very excited to see some new materials on the shelves. Students selected some books on tattoo art, legal issues for artists, anatomy, and animals, and Behind the Canvas was able to shop wisely and throw in a few surprise titles, too.