Arts Activism: Praxis in Social Justice, Critical Discourse, and Radical Modes of Engagement

Abstract

How does arts activism relate to concepts of voice, issues of social justice, and ideas about sustainable change and transformative processes? Does arts activism imply a particular set of values? This article describes an arts activism course that is designed to raise critical discourse on these and other questions and to provide a structure for highlighting common ground between art therapy and arts activism, as well as points of divergence. The author introduces a range of pedagogical structures designed to inform activist practices. Arts activism is conceived in part as a fluid engagement with an idea and a process that joins personal motivations with social concerns while maintaining political currency.

Acknowledgments

Editor's Note: Karen Frostig, PhD, ATR, LHMC, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Creative Arts and Learning at Lesley University, Cambridge, MA, and a Resident Scholar at the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University.