And Kate Lyman: AIDS: You Can Die From It (pp. 149-153)
Wow!!!! What a joy/pleasure/honor to read your posts from yesterday. Mostly because of your nuanced and engaged responses. So, let me get to a few. First off, I became inspired to write a paper on creating change in curriculum by simply making artists we teach reflect the demographics of a school and then what that can mean for teachers, students and learning. It's how I am going to teach students in Art 3360, our introductory class, about engaging students and learning--make the curriculum reflect their lives.
Blair posts that she was embarrassed about some previous judgments and posted that we weren't taught that much (or the latter may be my thought on that). $60 is a deal for anything Native-made. Some of the art/jewelry at the Governor's Palace where Natives-only sell, go for hundred and thousands. It's one way locals can make livings by selling art. And much of that art traces back to Natives relearning crafts to sustain their communities. When I was referring to the HOWE statue, I was intending how we all have seen similar examples somewhere in our lives--that that particular one--sorry if that was confusing. Lynn posted "How do we help preserve culture[s] respectfully?" Great question. Daniels' memory of playing with a slot machine with Indian-motif. Lynn posting again "How do we keep from homogeneity--from losing identity?" I might add that many of us don't even know much about our identities.
I am glad many of you find Kate Lyman's pedagogical courage and strategies impactful.
Rader pp. 181-190
ReplyDeleteThough he still might read as dense, Rader's trek through "Imperialist Nostalgia and Indian Action Sculptures" is interesting in terms of his takes on public art in Santa Fe. It works for me, because he is grounding it in a place I have been to.
He suggests/states that art made by non-Native about Natives can be stereotypical and racist. He refers to this as a "Disneyland of colonialism" (p. 193). "Indianness only through caricature" (p. 193). He cites examples of Native public art that serves as counter narratives to other more nostalgic and stereotyped/racist public art by non-Natives. Your responses/questions to his descriptions and observations?
What happens to us as artists, teachers and citizens when we start to learn about the differences in Native public art pieces?
I love the state fair--I have gone since I was a little girl. Originally, my great aunts would come in from central Texas and we walked through every display and canned good. Fair Park is the largest extant art deco buildings built at the same time.
DeleteThey honored the Pioneers, The Alamo defenders. There is a women's building. (even a sculpture of an Italian)
Yet
One of my favorite sculptures is a native American (loin cloth and all) in front of the Hall of State. Its the symbol of the Spirit of Tejas (not a specific tribe)-- the native american word for friendship. I love that it was created in the 30s by a Woman. It's bold.
I have called to get more information about it--who posed for it, where were they from, where was the sculptress from
So, I have a question:
I am interested in your opinions-- what do you think--respectful or imperial?
Here is the link:http://www.fairpark.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=208
I love Heap of Bird's "New York: Purchased, Stolen, Reclaimed." I would love to drive by one of these signs and see the reactions people would have when driving. Similar to what Rader says, people view these types of signs to get information on where they are going. I love how it replicates that aspect of roadway signs and the viewer questions it. It gives little information, but has so much meaning and leaves the viewer wondering as they drive to their destination of what is ahead.
DeleteSarah I agree, I think it would be so interesting to sit back and observe people's reactions to these pieces, or to any artwork or performance
DeleteArt that we have read about.. So would that be a performance in itself?
This section reminded me of the failed “Disney’s America” theme park that was proposed and subsequently fell apart in the early 1990s. The theme park was to be built near DC in Haymarket(!!!), Virginia. The “themed areas” were heavily based on the Civil War era. One of these proposed areas was called “Native America”. From Wikipedia:
Delete“Native America - A recreation of a Native American village that would have reflected the tribes that were known in that part of the country. Guests would have also enjoyed interactive experiences, exhibits, and arts and crafts, as well as a whitewater river raft ride that would have traveled throughout the area, based on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.”
Interesting that the main attraction of the “Native America” area would have been based on the journey of two white men. Needless to say, this proposed theme park was met with cavalcade of public resistance due to the park’s proximity to a horrific civil war battleground and other obvious social insensitivities. Here is a pretty good article that sums up what went down: http://www.pecva.org/maps-and-resources/publications/piedmont-view/215-fall-2013-piedmont-view/918-when-mickey-came-to-town
DeleteChapter 24 Art Is Not Enough: ACT UP, Gran Fury, and the AIDS Crisis
ReplyDeleteI am very familiar with these images and posters as I lived through (as Madonna sang "Lived to tell…) these times as a young closeted elementary art teacher (I have written many essays on this that are accessible) and as a grad student from 1989 to 1996 when I graduated. It was a horrific time to live through. Friends and others were not only dying fast, but the public reaction (Including art education) to AIDS was hysteria and hate (ruled by fear and ignorance). And everyday people died. When I marched in one of the first Walk for AIDS in Milwaukee, where Bette Midler was the chair that summer, just getting people to sponsor five cents a mile was a political act. Everybody was afraid of AIDS, sex and dying. The media and press and schools were horrible. A common response with gay friends was this: Mom and Dad, I have good news and bad news; which would you like to hear first? The good? I am gay. (The bad news was that the person had contracted the AIDS virus.)
In graduate school, I volunteered for a local LGBTQ social agency that ran support groups, coming out groups, had an LGBTQ lending library. I also volunteered for a time at MASN (that was mentioned in the Kate Lyman article. I actually got to teach Kate Lyman's daughter in a non-art major class.
And if I thought that "coming out" was a big issue back then, adding AIDS to everything made life impossible to live well. It was hell. It was a war zone. And it never let up. On page 257 the quote "Sure it's [AIDS] is growing, but it's not asthma" refers to how pharmaceutical industries are all about profit margins. Not saving people's lives. There were so many people who died needlessly. Kissing doesn't kill…
Your observations/comment on this chapter?
My observations are interesting in the sense that I am surprised by the author's comment that Benetton ad’s were a “classic example of coproate branding –a slick campaign that pronounced that buying their sweatshop made clothes would make you cool, a global citizen” P 259
DeleteBenneton was originally a small family store—sourced by small family suppliers—as they grew they saw a need to help with the global crisis of intolerance and the aids epidemic. Many of their ads were too controversial because of this strong subject matter.
Here is what wiki says the company is known for sponsorship of a number of sports, and for the provocative and original "United Colors" publicity campaign. The latter originated whenphotographer Oliviero Toscani was given carte blanche by the Benetton management. Under Toscani's direction, ads were created that contained striking images unrelated to any actual products being sold by the company.
These graphic, billboard-sized ads included depictions of a variety of shocking subjects, one of which featured a deathbed scene of a man (AIDS activist David Kirby) dying from AIDS.[11] Others included a bloodied, unwashed newborn baby with umbilical cord still attached, which was highly controversial. This 1991 advert prompted more than 800 complaints to the British Advertising Standards Authority during 1991 and was featured in the reference book Guinness World Records 2000 as 'Most Controversial Campaign'. Others included a black stallion covering a white mare,[12] close-up pictures of tattoos reading "HIV Positive" on the bodies of men and women, a cemetery of many cross-like tombstones, a collage consisting of genitals of persons of various races, a priest and nun about to engage in a romantic kiss, pictures of inmates on death row, an electric chair, an advert showing a boy with hair shaped into the devil's horns, three different hearts with "black", "white" and "yellow" written onto them (from March 1996), and a picture of a bloodied t-shirt and pants riddled with bullet holes from a soldier killed in the Bosnian War (this one appeared in February 1994).[13] Most of the advertisements, although not all, had a plain white background, and in most the company's logo served as the only text accompanying the image.
Bennetton did not sue the lifting of the image by Gran Fury.
And still consistent--
“In autumn 2011, Benetton launched its new worldwide communication campaign, an invitation to the leaders and citizens of the world to combat the "culture of hatred", and created the UNHATE Foundation.[14] This campaign was created as the group’s corporate social responsibility strategy and not as a cosmetic exercise.[15] The Benetton Group “seeks to contribute to the creation of a new culture against hate”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benetton_Group
http://unhate.benetton.com/
Again, the ignorance and fear we face constructs how we deal with issues. It was disappointing to again see how a president has failed to stand up for the people of his country he leads.
DeleteI would love to be a member of the organization ACT UP when it was first starting out, going around San Antonio or Austin and printing red hand prints on the walls of the city to imprint a message and having a hand in Wall Street to help with the medication costs.
I think the graphics they used for AIDS awareness were very effective in how they spread their message. They way they used the horrific symbolism from the Holocaust put things into perspective on how gays were being treated.
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DeleteCh.24 Art is Not enough, Lampert.
DeleteWhile reading about ACT UP and there mission for public awareness of AIDS in the late 1980s, make me think about a parade that I attended in 1988. I was a young kid you had a father that lived in New Orleans. I always remembered going to parades with Marti Gras beads. I just thought it was the famous Martigras holiday in Louisiana. Later in life, my step mom tells me it was a parade about safe sex where they were throwing condoms at a gay parade. I am curious why they took me to that parade. My dad continues to tell me that I collected a bunch of condoms and thought they were candy, so therefore to keep me from realizing it, they had to buy me some candy to give me later. That story makes me laugh today. I am curous if it was part of the ACT UP mission because it was during that time period.
My next curiousity while reading this chapter is the range of work done with the ACT UP pink triangle posters. Where there a range of ideas or did they all look the same? Therefore I searched up images of these posters.
DeleteWhile in my search for the pink triangles I came across a site that gives more examples of the ACT UP posters. http://www.wellcomecollection.org/explore/sickness--health/topics/aids-posters/images.aspx?view=aids-kills-bleach-works I thought it was interesting to see all the different connections and issues they were made with AIDS. http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=silence+%3d+death+triangle+posters&qpvt=silence+%3d+death+triangle+posters&FORM=IGRE
If you go to that link, you will see the range of connections artist make to the pink triangle such as the famous Keith Harring who actually died of AIDS .
On a different note, further in the reading, I agree with the images of "Kissing Doesn't Kill" illustrating a seperate issue of being gay on page 260. AIDs is another issue where some gay people do have AIDS and have a high risk, but not all. The "Kissing Doesn't Kill" advertisment gives a pro difference feeling by either race or gender.
DeleteI thought this chapter was interesting. I have a friend that has shared her stories about being gay and growing up fighting people who do not approve. She came out after she got divorced when people were not accepting at all. She was fortunate that her family was very accepting, when some of friends who were not as fortunate and their parents would no longer speak to them. I remember when I was younger the scare of AIDS and my parents talking to us about it, and just how cautious we needed to be but not rude or disrespectful. I really thought this was interesting all the way around.
DeleteI have a close friend who has AIDS. When he told me, I was very frightened for him. I thought he was doomed to a slow, lingering, painful death and there was no hope. So long as he takes his meds he should live a long and healthy life. We joke about it sometimes, call it his "blood status" like Harry Potter.
DeleteAs a side note to this chapter, I remember being "out" to a few of my elementary colleagues in the middle/late 80s. (I taught elementary art from 1980-89.) I also remember a male teacher and friend friend who emceed a fall teacher breakfast with a bunch of Rock Hudson/AIDS jokes. I also remember how uncomfortable I felt in the teacher's lounge when teachers would bring up anything gay--it was always negative and stereotypical and I would usually leave. I often used the "she" pronoun when describing dates I had had. It was a very confusing time trying to keep many of my worlds separate--rather than having them integrated as they are today.
ReplyDeleteI tell myself and students that LGBTQ issues are there whether or not I/you refuse to acknowledge them. There are LGBTQ artists. There are LGBTQ families in school districts. LGBTQ teachers. LGBTQ parents. LGBTQ students. LGBTQ community members. At all levels. Even at the elementary level (as we will read with Kate Lyman).
One thing I recall that there were so few role models for me back then. That's why I studied LGBTQ stuff in grad school. No one even suspected that there were LGBTQ artists, much less taught anything about them. At the University of Wisconsin-Madison where I studied for my PhD, an art history seminar class was studying artist couples and their impact on each other and their art. A friend was in the seminar. She said each week the students would teach about their couples and what they found out. Almost all of the couples were straight. But she or someone had the couple Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. So, I immediately said, well they were a gay couple for about ten years--there were books written about it by that time. And they made art for each other. Art I had seen in high school classes in the 70s that now made much better sense to me. Well, my friend said, oh no, they never mentioned that they were gay. In a PhD graduate course? To this day, that makes no sense to me--at all. You don't have to respond to this. I am just musing about life experiences--I guess it's what older people do. Feel free to share any...
Tolerance and Compassion: I am combining themes (Native Americans and Aids) here. But I love this quote:
Delete“My grandmother's greatest gift was tolerance. Now, in the old days, Indians used to be forgiving of any kind of eccentricity. In fact, weird people were often celebrated. Epileptics were often shamans because people just assumed that God gave seizure-visions to the lucky ones. Gay people were seen as magical too. I mean, like in many cultures, men were viewed as warriors and women were viewed as caregivers. But gay people, being both male and female, were seen as both warriors and caregivers. Gay people could do anything. They were like Swiss Army knives! My grandmother had no use for all the gay bashing and homophobia in the world, especially among other Indians. "Jeez," she said, Who cares if a man wants to marry another man? All I want to know is who's going to pick up all the dirty socks?" (155)”
― Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Thanks Ed for sharing of your experiences. I have always wondered what it would have been like to be gay and a teacher during that time. It is inspirational to see how you are overcoming the challenges and what you have learned. I am finding myself always learning new things about myself in my own struggles. My step uncle when through some of your same problems. He did not come out until after college and had some of his close friends disappear when they found out. I imagine that being hurtful. He is married now and lives in New York. There was a time where I was too young to remember that he only came out to half the family at a time. I never new what the big deal was cause the moment I meet him, I liked him. He is always easy to talk to. Anyways, when they come to visit over the holidays and we attend a Christmas party of my dads friend, they always stand so far apart from each other. (Even today). Dimitrious, his husband, always gets mistake as my boyfriend, its kind of funny in that sense, but sad in another. Why do they feel that they need to hide when today it is alot more excepting? I have wondered about this.
DeleteThis is somewhat related and somewhat off topic but Lynn talked about epileptics and it made me think of the past four summers working as an Adaptive Camp supervisor. This is a special needs camp for kids 5-21. I have never know discrimination like I have working there with these kiddos. I absolutely love and have a very special place in my heart for people with special needs. I grew up with my dad being partially deaf, my parents have always worked with people with disabilities or had friends that had disabilities. It was my norm. I was also a job coach for students with disabilities for a short time as well as an aide in a classroom. I have babysat one of my favorite kiddos Josh numerous times. This one time in particular he wanted to go to the mall and walk around. He is autistic and wear's head phones as he is sensitive to noise. He will randomly stop and rock back and forth as a way of coping if someone touches him or waits for someone that he feels is not a good person to pass so he can continue. This time at the mall we got starred down like we were criminals and laughed at, pointed at and other things, I thought to myself I really just want to scream at these people, YES HE HAS A DISABILITY AND UNTIL YOU WALK A DAY IN HIS SHOES OR HIS PARENTS STOP JUDGING AND MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS! People are so rude and not accepting of anyone that is different. Many times when going on field trips with our kids we would have a runner that would take off and we have to chase them, or someone have an out burst and we have to do a SAMA hold to keep them from hurting anyone or themselves. People do not understand what it's like to walk in these parents shoes or these peoples lives and the challenges they face. I think this applies so much to everything we have read and how people are discriminated against no matter what race, religion, disability, sex, or whatever it may be people will judge. When in reality they need to look in their own closet at their own skeletons. Just my thoughts...
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DeleteKate Lyman: AIDS--"You Can Die From It" Teaching Young Children About a Difficult Subject
ReplyDeleteWhat's interesting to me as I reread this was that this particular year, she was teaching a 1st/2nd grade combination class.
What impresses you most about her planning and concerns? I especially like her comment on controversial issues: "When questions arose in the classroom, I would deal with them as with any "controversial" issue, by responding in an open, direct manner, and then return to the lesson at hand" (p. 149).
This a a courageous and enlightened pedagogical skill that she has honed. Respond to questions openly and directly. I believe this strategy is key to making/keeping learning interesting and of interest to learners. Once I begin to hedge and lie, I lose people. Teaching learners (all ages) about things that really interest them is the best discipline. Rethinking Schools (rethinkingschools.org) often states that the best discipline is a good curriculum--that engages learners. Your thoughts/questions/experiences?
In the 80s, Most aids victims died ALONE. How awful! Now, a friend of mine has contracted aids and his doctor told him its like living with high blood pressure--if he takes his medicine and is careful he can live a long and happy life--CONNECTED and with the community and people he loves. That is cause to celebrate.
DeleteWithin the first few paragraphs I remember being young in the early 90s and commonly hearing people tell you how you can get AIDS from this or that. I love that through this observation she wanted to inform her students on the actual knowledge of AIDS and how to contract it. I would be worried on discussing the issue with the students when one of the boys mentioned to contracting it from sex. Would kids these days have a mature response like he did when it was brought up?
DeleteI loved how she included the community with the nurse's story. Hearing a real story of a person they know must have greatly impacted the lesson and made it much more real. I also enjoyed how a student suggested to raise money for it- and they did. How great that student must feel to see their ideas being responded to!
I really liked that she was real with her students. I really try to be as real as possible with my students as well. Some of my kids are so very naive or don't think things through and at times I will chime in and give them an idea or thought, I have had great response to it, and several have thanked me for being so honest with them. I think she did a great job raising awareness with her students, school as well as bringing in her parents for support. I liked that the nurse had a personal story. Kids relate more when it's personal or they know you have been through it and share your feelings, I have found anyway.
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DeleteI liked her preemptive strike with parents by including it in the newsletter. As always she let the kids guide their learning, starting with their knowledge base and growing from there. It's amazing what a first grader is capable of when he is given room to grow.
DeleteWhat did you think of her student's concerns and questions? Parent concerns? Teacher concerns? Administration concerns? What pops out to you in this essay? What if any stereotypes are being challenged? Other insights of this chapter?
ReplyDeleteLike I stated above, I would be worried about the sex topic being discussed and the content that the parents may be reluctant for their students to learn. She brought it about in a good way with connecting the lesson to AIDS awareness and opening up the idea in the newsletter to gauge the reaction. It gave the parents a few times to consider it before their student came home and talked with them about it before they were aware.
DeleteWhen starting this chapter on AIDS, I am not sure if this is a big concern these days in classrooms. I associate AIDS with Africa or other countries instead of the US these days. It seems like this was a concern in the 70s to the 90s. Today it seems to be STDs like HPV, which is spreading everywhere. Would I teach a lesson on concerns with STDs to middle school students? As I read further in her essay on ways to alert parents and looking for age approprate articles or readings, I was influenced about my thought process. I think it would be an interesting unit with its challenges. I admire her lesson in the fact that she intorduces the lesson and provides the videos and resources, then lets the students take over with their direction as the development with the ribbons. I think that style of teaching is a way to encourgae students in action on such issues. However, on the other side of it, it would require a teacher who is very flexible and goes with the flow. Does she have a back-up plan going into these units of a project in mind incase on does not develop? I am interested in the process getting her students to develop there ideas.
DeleteBlair I agree, is there a back up plan? Did every lesson go this smoothly when it came to tough topics? I would like to know about the difficult lessons that didn't work and what she did when they didn't. I think it's great she has so much support, I am not sure I would have the same support as her at my school and that parents would be this open or admins for that matter... I may have to ask some questions to my admin on material I want to use this year....
DeleteI would say that AIDS is a huge concern in the classroom, or at least it should be. Over a million people in the US have HIV, and a good chunk of them are unaware they are positive. It's on the rise, especially among teenage African American females. Those are terrifying statistics! We need to be teaching our children about HIV/AIDS and how to prevent spreading it.
DeleteJust a reminder to take a look at people's blogs. I will be dong that this week. Currently I am crazily co-curating the Junction Summer 2014 Exhibition at The Louise Hopkins Underwood Contemporary Arts Center in Lubbock at the School of Art Satellite Gallery. The opening is this Friday from 6-9 pm (First Friday Art Trail in Lubbock). If you are near, please stop by. There will be art from many of the students and faculty--a group showing--who worked in Junction this summer. We try to do this every August First Friday. Usually we only showcase graduating MAEs art, but this summer many did projects and not exhibitions, so we are including all of the classes from the summer.
ReplyDeleteSounds fun! For those who can not make it, will there be any pictures of the event on the TTU website ?
DeleteI updated my blog today...
DeleteAndreasartisticpalatte.blogspot.com