NYU ART+EDUCATION CERTIFICATION

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Research in Art + Education Guest: Tomie Arai

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Zoom class with Tomie Arai

Our Spring 2020 Research in Art + Education class welcomed artist and activist Tomie Arai. Tomie shared her experiences using oral history and interviewing for her series, Portraits from Chinatown, and as a co-founder of Chinatown Art Brigade with artists Betty Yu and ManSee Kong. In our discussion, Tomie shared examples of working within communities, the importance of sharing stories in native voice and language, and collecting stories that connect the personal and the political such as experiences of gentrification in New York’s Chinatown and the history of immigration in San Francisco. These topics are helpful to consider as students developing strategies to connect with communities for the final capstone project. Given the realities of social distancing as a result of the coronavirus we have had to dramatically alter the way we think about working in and with communities and connecting with people through the research process. One student appreciated how open and honest she was with us as a class, “I enjoyed how transparent Tomie was in regards to navigating the challenges of working with communities. It was really generous of her to share her time, insight, and even images of her upcoming project.” 

Stories that make words, words that make stories: What are your L.E.S. stories?

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Grad students from Critical Pedagogy, Artists, and the Public Sphere.

As part of their final project, students in Critical Pedagogy, Artists, and the Public Sphere developed a workshop to hear and collect stories based around the Lower East Side. The workshop focused on people’s stories about the L.E.S. in relation to four words/concepts:  belonging, displacement, territory, and resistance/insistence. These words share an overall theme of gentrification and were chosen based on the students’ discussions of their unease as NYU students taking up neighborhood space in a vastly changing area. Students asked passerby to write their story of displacement or belonging in the L.E.S. on post-it notes to place on a map of the area. The workshop was held in two locations with vastly different interactions: St. Mark’s Place and the Tompkins Square Library. 

Preparation for the workshops: 

Workshop sign that reads: "Stories that make words, words that make stories. What are your L.E.S. stories?

Workshop #1: St. Mark’s PlaceGrad students setting up their table for a workshop outside of St. Mark's. 

Workshop #2: Tompkins Square Library 

Students listening to a community member share their story in the Tompkins Square Library.

L.E.S. Walking Tour with Leora Fuller and Dakota Devereux Scott

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Tour stop in front of a LES community garden.

During one of the first sessions of the semester, students from Critical Pedagogy, Artists, and the Public Sphere went on a walking tour of the LES with Art + Ed alum Leora Fuller and Dakota Devereux Scott from FAB (Fourth Arts Block) NYC and People’s LES.

The tour began with a land acknowledgment, in which Leora stated that New York University, and Manhattan in general, sits on the occupied territory of the Lenni Lenape peoples. Throughout the tour, Leora shared the invisible histories of resistance in the neighborhood, and the group discussed the ramifications of gentrification in the changing Lower East Side. Between tour stops, the group participated in activities like creating found-word poems from words that were seen during the walk, and a trust walk, depending on other senses to experience the L.E.S.  

Tour group walking in the LES

Supporting contextual images shared during the tour: 

Manahatta, Lenape land.

Map of Lenape Villages.

L.E.S. Map

Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association.

Image from the 1988 Tompkins Square Riots

We the People Won't Go

White Out!

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White Out!: What do our public monuments tell us about our past and our present?

Public statues and monuments serve as reminders of our past, paying tribute to people and events that have shaped our history. But what if these histories do not represent all voices and perspectives, or contradict the values and beliefs of citizens today? We are often told that history is told by the victors, and monuments reinforce these stories in public, providing a constant reminder of who is considered important in our society as they stand in our public parks, in public buildings and government offices. Many monuments are now understood as controversial because they represent racist, sexist “patriarchal”  histories and the dominance of White power over other narratives and points of view. The history of slavery, the genocide of Indigenous people, and colonization are not visible, nor are the many contributions of African-Americans, Native Americans, Asian Americans, Latinx visible. Contemporary artists have challenged how we understand monuments and the stories they tell, opening up conversations about who and what should be recognized in our public spaces.In this class students will explore how monuments tell stories about racial and patriarchal hierarchy in our society, investigate the function of monuments as public art today, and design alternative monuments and forums of public storytelling about our past, our present, and possibly our future.

Student working on a sculpture during a Visionary Studio session, 2018 Student working during a Visionary Studio session, 2018

Student painting during Visionary Studio 2018

Nick Kozak: Taken for Grant-ed

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Nick Kozak is an Artist Educator working at Manhattan Hunter Science High School. He attended the State University of New York at New Paltz, where he studied Art History and Art Education. Later, he completed a Masters in Art + Education at New York University, where he is currently part of the adjunct faculty. He currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with his wife, cat, and growing collection of comic books. More than often he makes food for people. Nick also makes art.

Poster for "Taken for Grant-ed" video festival of student work about U.S. Grant.

ART HISTORY – Grant Project

As part of the Art History class Kozak teaches at Manhattan Hunter Science, focused on contemporary art exhibitions and time-specific work, this year, students worked with the National Parks Service (NPS), specifically looking at the General Grant National Memorial (aka, Grant’s Tomb) located at on Riverside Drive at 122nd street.

The culminating project for this exploration of a facet of US History took the form of making corrective and comedic videos celebrating our 18th president and the post-Civil War era. The student videos live on in the National Parks Service website.

Students at a tour of General Grant National Memorial (aka, Grant’s Tomb).

Attendance is rather lacking at this NPS site compared to Ellis Island, Federal Hall, and more recently, Hamilton Grange. Additionally, Grant’s legacy as a general and president is often overrun with misconceptions and misrepresentations. Together with park rangers, 40 students trekked through history to uncover fascinating truths about Ulysses S. Grant, finding that he had helped to introduce civil rights legislation half a century before the rest of the nation ready to have that discussion.

Students on a class tour.

Students started this project not really sure how our nation’s historic sites and memorials tie into actual history. Through this unit they gained a better understanding of the roles that presidential figures play in the present and how they’re remembered, as they become the past.Photo of the editing process of the U.S. Grant project. Past projects undertaken by this class have included collaborations with Concerned New Yorkers, Art 21, and Pioneer Works to motivate socially active projects.