Off-Campus Extended Studies Courses

This course explores experimental art forms used to create socially engaged art. Social practice art often utilizes participatory, community-centered approaches to address pressing political and social concerns, both locally and globally. Demonstrations provide the technical and material expertise necessary to complete related sculptural projects such as building a miniature golf course for charity, designing a project for the Occupy House at Peeler, and creating an independent social practice project. Discussions, readings and slide lectures will focus on examples of social practice art through recent art history, with emphasis on conceptual, practical and visual concerns of researching controversial topics, collaborating with a diverse group of peers and local community members, and creating artwork that maintains high artistic standards while addressing social or political concerns. In addition to completed projects, advanced students will be expected to lead an in-class demonstration on a material or technique they have mastered, complete a research paper on a social practice artist, and present their research in an oral presentation. Prerequisite: Introduction to Sculpture