Artist Luke Haynes quilt a whole house and tree in Capitol Hill, Seattle, WA. When I saw this art installation, I thought it was a defiant statement against gentrification that is rampant in the area. However, in the article in the Seattle Times there is no mention of a political statement being made. I thought this was a wonderful unexpected intervention in public space that to me made me question if this could have had the potential to change policy by making an abandoned building a work of art? (It will now be the site of a new bookstore.  Here's a link to the article http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2019077236_quilthouse06m.htm

A few blocks away there was also a "mailbox" filled with free poetry for the taking. Every month a new poem is posted for passersby to take - another public artistic intervention...

Here is a link to the poem I found in the box! http://www.scribd.com/doc/14193787/AT-DUSK-A-Poem-from-Native-Guard-by-Natasha-Trethewey

2013 will be the 40th Anniversary of The Ohio State University Office of Disability Services and the 40th Anniversary of Section 504 of the American with Disabilities Act ("Section 504 states that "no qualified individual with a disability in the United States shall be excluded from, denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under" any program or activity that either receives Federal financial assistance or is conducted by any Executive agency or the United States Postal Service." ADA)

If discrimination, prejudice, and stigma still exists against disability, how far have we come? Or should the question be where are we going?

How can we increase awareness about disability on campus?

I will be attending part of A Symposium on Hate, Vulnerability, Harm, and Collective Resistance at The Ohio State University on November 1. https://disco.osu.edu/SymposiumOnHate

Paul Velasquez, President of Abilities, will be speaking on one of the panels.

Abilities, a student organization dedicated to increasing awareness on disability is now a sponsor for my practicum which will highlight the history of disability history and activism on the OSU campus. The OSU Office of Disability Services is interested in how my project might be a way to create more visibility for ODS in celebration of their 40th anniversary.

A meeting using Open Space Technology to focus on disability awareness is planned for November 14th.

Looking for that spark...

Hi Rubics!

Things are taking a different shape than I imagined when we started. My library gig is very small. I haven't started yet but when I do it will be just two hours one afternoon a week. It's a drop in art class held in the children's section of a small library branch. Feels insubstantial.

In the meantime...

For many years I've been involved in an arts education community collaborative group. There are several ways I interact with this group of artists, teachers and administrators around art education advocacy.  I decided to post the larger question to this group. "How can art change policy?" on their website. I'm hoping something will spark.

Sample Case Study of Art-Making as an Evaluation Tool: Two-Way Mirror

 Hi Rubics!

I started my first 'case study' for Packet 1 from the Animating Democracy site. If you're interested, I recommend this study from the Tucson Pima Arts Council:
http://animatingdemocracy.org/publications/case-studies/interdisciplinary#tucsonpima
 

I chose it sort of at random, but it's turning out to speak pretty directly to our Art+Policy question. The driving question of this study is, how can we evaluate arts programs in a way that allows the art-making to be the evaluation tool? If you do check it out, I'd be eager to chat with you about your reactions!

How can an educational theater project change school district policy?

How can an interview-based educational theater project inspire a school district to adopt policy that will grow the inclusion of the arts in its academic classrooms and increase the arts-based instructional capacity of its teachers?

As a theater teaching artist in the Alaska State Council on the Arts Artists In Schools (AIS) Program, I work often as a visiting artist in schools around the state. In December 2012-January 2013, I’ll be leading an interview-based theater project at Kenny Lake School in Copper River School District. How can I design a process and products with the goal of increasing the long-term presence of the arts in the school district’s staff skills, in its curricula, and in its policy?

Strategies to explore:

• With the input of teachers, students, and community members, formulate a central question for the interview project--a central "story"--which engages a diverse local population and/or confronts a current community concern.
• Target community power brokers - such as school board members and local policy makers - as interviewees for the project. 
• Include teachers and administrators in authentic participation in the project, deepening buy-in and understanding of the interpersonal, intrapersonal, and academic power of arts engagement. 
• Consider ‘happening’-style processes, such as rehearsals and design projects in public spaces, to attract community attention to students’ artistic work. 
• Facilitate an evening/weekend community arts workshop which engages local community members in participation in the student project. 
• Incorporate students into the documentation process - photos, video, web postings - in order to further multiply arts experiences as well as to generate more evidence of the value of this project. 
• Create a groundwork for future collaborative arts processes like this one, and invite students to take leadership in advocating for support in their own arts practices. 
• Incorporate an in-process arts activity into a school board meeting agenda, inviting students to function as advocates at the meeting. 
• Generate documentation of the final products to be disseminated, with the help of students, in various physical and on-line forums.