Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Join Us this Friday: Teen Moderates Free Panel Discussion on Arts & Social Justice

As you may have heard by now, the Hui currently has two dynamic artists in residence that have been working feverishly to provide opportunities for community members to make creative connections between the visual arts and social activism- from professional development for public school teachers to career goal setting to linoleum cut printmaking workshops, and more.

The program, entitled “The Politics of Paper/ Many Stories, Many Voices,” was made possible by grants from the Hawai'i People's Fund and the Laila Twigg-Smith Art Fund of the Hawai'i Community Foundation as well as individual donors to our children’s program through the 2009 & 2010 Art Affair fundraising events. It will be used as a case study about how art can be used as a catalyst for social change - empowering participants with new perspectives, artistic inspiration and a dynamic exchange of ideas.

With activities including research of non-arts Maui-based organizations, preparing a plan of action for working together to raise awareness of issues of social justice and implementing a collaborative curriculum that specifically addresses the resulting issue/s, visiting artists Favianna Rodriguez of Oakland, California and Orlando Reyes of Jersey City, New Jersey have conducted on and offsite planning meetings, video interviews, hands-on visual arts workshops for youth and adults, open studios, professional development workshops for neighboring school classroom teachers and will curate a culminating public exhibition launching Friday, August 6th.

This Friday, July 23rd, offers a rare opportunity for community members to meet & greet the artists, see samples of their artwork and projects they have produced throughout the world, and participate in an interactive panel discussion about the power of the visual arts to inspire social change. The selected panelists represent a wide range of perspectives including an arts activist, public muralist, social justice advocate, social scientist and arts administrator. This will be a great opportunity to learn from and contribute to a communal discourse about transforming individual creativity to collective activism. The event is on Friday, July 23rd from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm. It is free & open to the public.

The conversation will be moderated by 18-year old Chris Ferrer, who is currently completing his first teen intensive with Favianna Rodriguez and plans to complete Orlando Reyes’ mural arts intensive next week, which will be assisted by Basquiat-inspired New York City artist Doze Green. Now entering the Politics, Philosophy & Economics program at Claremont McKenna in Claremont, California, Chris has moderated discussions for Seabury Hall’s philosophy club for 4 years. We think it’s incredibly cool that he’ll be here running things on Friday evening.

Panelists:
Caroline Killhour, ED, Hui No`eau Visual Arts Center
Nancy Aleck, ED, HI People's Fund
Bob Grossman, PhD, President & CEO of Afterschool Art 501(c)3
Favianna Rodriguez, Resident Artist
Orlando Reyes, Resident Artist

Join Us!
2010 Artists in Residence Program Slide Lecture & Panel Discussion
Friday, July 23, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Hui Solarium
FREE

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