ASR Class 2015

The Artist and Social Responsibility Project: An unprecedented collaborative approach to learning.

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ASR students working together on their final projects.  Several video pieces were produced, focused on aspects of the Village of Arts and Humanities and work they do with the North Philadlephia community.

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Mark Strandquist and Courtney Bowles of People’s Paper Coop tell us about the work they are doing in the Expungement Clinics, where people get legal help to expunge their criminal records.  This project has been embraced by the Village of Arts and Humanities and is now one of their programs.

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More class pictures on ASR Picture Day!

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ASR Class picture day, all bundled up for winter!

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Some photos from our class this year.  Top to Bottom-We Skyped with Rick Lowe, who told us about Project Row Houses; The Village of Arts and Humanities management team told us about how the Village works; Students at the first class talking about making something together with paper, scissors and tape; Instructor Theresa Rose makes a point to the class; Creative Time’s Nato Thompson wows us with talk of his group’s projects in communities in New York and elsewhere.

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On Wochenklausur

by ASR student Lydia Knopp

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Class Writings

Noreen Kress’ Response to “Am I a do-gooder?”

http://openengagement.info/author/100days/page/2/

In Lenine Bourke’s self-addressed letter, I see that she addresses a common problem in community work; where non-community members mistakenly believe that their own solutions are best for the community. Bourke identifies this problem stemming from a strong will to fix and “do-good.” Though this urge stems from good intentions, it removes agency that could have been activated by the very community members it was meant to help. Furthermore, the will to “do-good” also assumes that non-residents know the needs of a community better than its own residents. It is important, as Bourke emphasizes, to control the natural tendency to actively fix a problem we see before us. Instead, non-community members must be better listeners than fixers. Their role should be secondary and supportive to that of the community. They must learn to let the community address its own problems and create their own solutions—and remember that the greatest resource for knowledge is the community itself.

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ASR Writing Assignment

On Thomas Hirschhorn’s Gramsci Monument by Aileen Brier

I am constantly amazed by the combination of creativeness and thoughtfulness that so many of the artists we explore possess. Hirschhorn, a native of Switzerland, has a keen sense of awareness for the necessity of involving people in a community to create a space for all to use. With his belief that all people have an “innate understanding of art,” he creates installations with primarily tape, invoking the senses, and allowing for the community to have a facility at their disposal for meetings and recreation. One of the aspects of the video that really caught my attention was Hirschhorn’s repetition of the word “everyday.” I found this to be an important reminder that the projects people create for a community need to be used and kept up-to-date all the time, and the only way that can happen is by caring and utilizing the facilities everyday. I think that is one of the many things The Village does well; it is constantly used and well kept in order for the community to take full advantage of it.

Thomas Hirschhorn

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The Alumni Project

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Response to WochenKlausur

Gabrielle Patterson’s response to the work of the Austrian artist group WochenKlausur:

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Meet the ASR class of 2015!

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The ASR class thinks about "community"...

"Community"—a term often used when talking about social practice art projects. Who makes up a community?

-family members

-people with beards

-ethnic groups

-language groups (Spanish-speaking, French-speaking)

-friends

-friends from school

-cyclists

-dog owners

-foodies

-bar hoppers

-athletes

-the elderly

-neighbors

-teachers

-youth

-business owners

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This intriguing ART21 video follows New York based artist and ASR guest speaker Mary Mattingly as she adopts a process of recording every object she owns and traces the history of each of her valuables. Throughout this process, she takes a hard look at the environmental and societal impact of her personal consumption, questioning if “maybe we need art more today because we’re in a world with so many mass produced things.”

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Check out this insightful TED Talk that renowned artist (and ASR Guest Speaker!) Lily Yeh gave in 2013 at Cornell University. Yeh makes it evident that we all have the ability to transform the world around us for the better if we let compassion guide our actions.

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Philly Cam

I recently attended an orientation meeting at Philly Cam. Looking forward to taking a class! Click here to learn more.

Susan

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This is a fascinating look at Pepon Osorio’s work in action! We are so looking forward to having Pepon as a guest speaker this semester.

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Fact:  Did you know that the ASR Project is organized by TheArtblog?  We had great support from the Knight Foundation and from the Village of Arts and Humanities and Slought and 7 Philadelphia colleges -- Moore College of Art and Design, PAFA, University of the Arts, University of Pennsylvania, Tyler School of Art, Saint Joseph's University and Arcadia University!  A great team effort!