Art has always been something that I felt contributed to society, I have always been passionate about advocating for art. This is something that has to do with my background. I grew up with my dad as an artist, so I was taught from an early age the importance of art and was always encouraged to explore. For this reason, I have seen firsthand through exposure to art that art can contribute to society. I think a big part of how art can contribute to society is through its approach to making change. Art is a subtle yet very effective way to advocate for change. Personally, I believe that art is one of the best ways to approach issues in our society today, because it gets people thinking. When someone looks at an environmental work of art, they are going to reflect on their own environmental impact. Awareness is a huge part of creating change in our society, because if people don't know about the issue, they aren't going to be able to make a change. Throughout this year however, I have developed a further understanding of how art can contribute to society through an educators eyes. This semester is one of the first times I think my perspective on this has changed. This is due to talking so much about social justice in art education. I never realized the true impact that individual students can have on advocating for change through their art making. Since we have been talking about social justice issues, it has got me thinking about how student art can create an impact not only in their school, but their community, and even more expansive than that. This is one of the main changes I have seen in my understanding around how art can contribute to society. I think that as a future teacher, it is so important to talk to kids and have them think about and explain why they think art is important and contributes to society. It is sad to me that so much of our society thinks of art as something that doesn't have a purpose. Art is so important, it not only allows for creative expression, it also contributes positively by raising awareness around issues that require our action. I think that reflection is a big part of this, oftentimes when we are confronted with information, we try to distance ourselves, and say that we don't contribute to whatever it is. However, art allows for that personal reflection, and therefore I think allows for a more reasonable and meaningful reflection on our own actions. For example, if we see a piece of environmental art about climate change, we have that space to reflect on our own impact on climate change. This is a different way of raising awareness than say a discussion, because there we might be more inclined to be defensive instead of having a thoughtful reflection. This is a big part of why I think art contributes to society in such positive way. 

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My piece of art this week reflects this idea of art contributing to society through raising awareness and therefore creating change. I dyed this piece of fabric using indigo, which is a dye that changes color when exposed to oxygen. When the fabric comes out of the dye pot it is green, and then through exposure to oxygen it turns blue. This is a representation of arts contributions to society, because art slowly creates a societal change. I also created a pattern on the fabric that is representational of environmental issues, because that is one issue that I'm passionate about and is talked about often in art making.  I created a piece of fabric that embodied the idea of water through the waves that it seems to have, and towards the bottom it is dark, filled with pollution. This is something that could be looked at and thought about by the viewer, and their personal impact on water pollution. The technique that I used to get this particular pattern was through a shibori technique where I wrapped the fabric around a cylindrical object and then tightly tied yarn around to create the texture and pattern. This also furthers my idea, because the fabric is in a constant state of change throughout the process, and this connects to the idea of people's understandings constantly changing through viewing art.

 

This influences my path to becoming an educator because it makes me more passionate about including social justice issues in my curriculum. Having students talk about difficult topics in their art can really have an impact. It can get them thinking about things they may be learning in other classes, it can help them to realize their own impact on the world. It can help them to explore an idea they are passionate about, and want to make a change. It can also go beyond them, it can help their school community make a change, it can help the community in the town they live in, etc. I also think it is important to talk to kids about what they think about how art contributes to society, this is something that many students may have never been asked. I think it could be interesting to ask this question at the beginning of the school year, and at the end of the school year, and see how their answers have developed. I think dealing with social justice issues in art education can be really meaningful for students, and can help them connect with what they are making in a deeper way.