ARTS IN ACTION

Campus Compact and Imagining America are collaborating on Arts in Action, a national student initiative to promote activism, social justice and civic engagement through cultural work and the arts.

Student organizers with Arts in Action are reaching out to students nationally to tell the story of what is going on around the country and connect them to local and regional support in a larger movement of cultural work, creative activism and engaged art.

Students interested in and involved with Arts in Action will gather November 7-10th at the Imagining America National Conference at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to exchange stories and ideas, connect their efforts as well as help in determining the future work of Arts in Action. Scholarships may be available – please inquire.

Students interested in Arts in Action as well as attending the conference should contact Suzanne Pekow at spekow@umich.edu.

What is this About?

The vision of this initiative lies at the intersection of art, cultural work, education, action and community. How do these intersect on campus and what role do arts and cultural work currently play in students’ politics and service? Conversely, what role do politics and service play in arts, humanities and cultural work? Arts in Action asks - What are the possibilities in doing so?

In July 2003 Arts in Action kicked off with an initial gathering of students from campuses across the country to further envision what possibilities and needs exist for students around social justice education and organizing through the arts and cultural work. At this gathering participants identified five major areas that will assist in developing a network of students and supporters in order to further the capacities of students to create change and build community. These areas include:

• Gatherings/Training – Opportunities for student organizers and/or artists to further discussion about the relationship between arts, community-building, civic engagement and social justice education. Past gatherings have also deliberately focused on concrete organizing strategies.

• Faculty Alliances – to connect students to faculty on campuses that can be an ally for students and assist with project development (i.e. connection to larger network, major or course development, research, interdepartmental collaboration).

• Arts Advocacy – to educate the Arts in Action network on policy related to the arts and arts education; in collaboration with arts advocacy organizations, as well as student arts advocacy groups across the country.

• Campus Organizing – students working to connect arts and activism on their campus or who are organizing through the arts will have the opportunity to connect with other students doing similar work as well as access support and resources from regional/national student organizers

• Finally, all of these efforts and stories will be connected on the web at www.ia.umich.edu --- the Imagining America website.

How Can You Get In On This?
Headin’ Out to Illinois –

Building on the work of student organizers this past summer, the Arts in Action Gathering at the Imagining America conference, November 7-10 will further connect even more students as well as connect this student network to a larger network of “artists and scholars in public life”. Students will spend a significant amount of time sharing their experiences and ideas, as well as discussing specific methods to take back to campus-communities of how arts and cultural work are critical means by which communities are built, political views are expressed and change is affected.

Goals of the gathering are:
• Broadening a national network of student art activists and engaged artists so that they can share resources and ideas on local and regional activities and other potential projects,
• Discussion/Training on the connections between arts, organizing and social change, and
• Planning for how the Arts in Action network can further support student work.

Throughout the event students will have the opportunity to speak with the various conference participants –specifically faculty- during a student/faculty dialogue on supporting student work and developing relevant curriculum. This forum and conversations with conference participants will contribute to student discussion at the event on the continuing development of the Arts in Action network.

Students interested in Arts in Action as well as attending the conference should contact Suzanne Pekow at spekow@umich.edu.

Who are We?

Students from large schools and smaller schools, rural schools and urban schools, artists, activists and people that don’t differentiate between art and activism, have come together to form Arts in Action.

Part of Raise Your Voice campaign, this initiative recognizes that activism inspires us in our art, our art inspires activism and that activism is an art. Through Raise Your Voice Campus Compact is supporting student voice and action on campuses across the country in order to build the capacity for students to develop engaged lives and create change in their communities and at their institution. Check out what is going on with the Raise Your Voice initiative at www.actionforchange.org.

Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life is a national consortium of colleges, universities, and cultural institutions dedicated to supporting the civic work of university artists, humanists, and designers. Check out www.ia.umich.edu.