Art as Social Action: An Introduction to the Principles and Practices of Teaching Social Practice Art

"Art as Social Action . . . is an essential guide to deepening social art practices and teaching them to students." ―Laura Raicovich, president and executive director, Queens Museum
 
Art as Social Action is both a general introduction to and an illustrated, practical textbook for the field of social practice, an art medium that has been gaining popularity in the public sphere. With content arranged thematically around such topics as direct action, alternative organizing, urban imaginaries, anti-bias work, and collective learning, among others, Art as Social Action is a comprehensive manual for teachers about how to teach art as social practice.
 
Along with a series of introductions by leading social practice artists in the field, valuable lesson plans offer examples of pedagogical projects for instructors at both college and high school levels with contributions written by prominent social practice artists, teachers, and thinkers, including:

• Gregory Sholette and Chloë Bass
• Social Practice Queens (SPQ), New York City.
• Mary Jane Jacob, Chicago, Illinois.
• Marilyn Lennon, Julie Griffiths, and Maeve Collins, Limerick, Ireland.
• Noah Fischer, New York City.
• Ryan Lee Wong/Interference Archive New York City.
• Ashley Hunt, Los Angeles, California.
• Fiona Whelan, Dublin, Ireland.
• Social Practice Studio
• Katie Bachler and Scott Berzofsky, Baltimore, Maryland.
• Susan Jahoda and Caroline Woolard/bfamfaphd.com, New York City.
• Norene Leddy and Liz Slagus, New York City.
• Sean Taylor, Limerick, Ireland.
• Susan Jahoda,/The Pedagogy Group, New York City
• Taraneh Fazeli/The Pedagogy Group, New York City.
• The Pedagogy Group, New York City.
• Christopher Robbins, Ghana ThinkTank, New York City.
• Pedro Lasch, Durham, North Carolina.
• Daniel Tucker, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Beverly Naidus, Tacoma, Washington.
• Todd Ayoung, Ithaca, New York.
• Chto Delat/What is to be Done?, St. Petersburg, Russia.
• Sheryl Oring, Greensboro, North Carolina.
• Tanja Ostojić, Belgrade, Serbia.
• Antonio Serna, New York City.
• Pablo Helguera, New York City.
• Center for Artistic Activism: Steve Duncombe and Steve Lambert, New York City.
• Jeff Kasper and Alix Camacho Vargas, SPQ, New York City.
• Dipti Desai and Avram Finkelstein, New York City.
• Gregory Sale with Aaron Mercado, Dominique Bell, Dr. Luis García, José González, Ryan Lo, and Kirn Kim, Phoenix, Los Angeles, California.
• Sarah Ross, Damon Locks and Fereshteh Toosi, Chicago, Illinois.
• Laurie Palmer, Sarah Ross and Lindsey French, Chicago, Illinois.
• Matthew Friday and Iain Kerr (SPURSE),New Paltz, New York.
• Alejandro Meitin, La Plata, Argentina.
• Bo Zheng, Hong Kong.
• Jon Platt and Sonya Akimova
• Chto Delat School of Engaged Art, St. Petersburg, Russia.
• Jaishri Abichandani, SAWCC, New York City.
• Jen Delos Reyes, Chicago, Illinois.
• Joseph Cuillier, New York City.
• Alpha Elena Escobedo, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.
• Justin Langlois, Vancouver, Canada.
• Loraine Leeson and Alberto Duman, London UK.
• Gretchen Coombs, Brisbane, Australia.
• Susan R. Greene, Palestine and San Francisco, California.
• Dillon de Give, New York City.
• Jeanne van Heeswijk and Gabriela Rendón, The Netherlands.
• Brian Rosa, New York City.
• Tarry Hum, Prerana Reddy, and José Serrano-McClain, SPQ, New York City.
• Floor Grootenhuis and Erin Turner, SPQ, Arizona and New York City.
• Nancy Bruno and Gina Minielli, SPQ, New York City.
• Workers Art Coalition/Barrie Cline, SPQ, New York City.

 
Lesson plans also reflect the ongoing pedagogical and art action work of Social Practice Queens (SPQ), a unique partnership between Queens College CUNY and the Queens Museum.

Gregory Sholette is an artist, writer, and activist focused on excavating the history and theory of socially engaged art. His books include Delirium and Resistance: Activist Art and the Crisis of Capitalism and Dark Matter: Art and Politics in an Age of Enterprise Culture. He is a graduate of the Whitney Independent Studies Program, holds a PhD from the University of Amsterdam, and teaches Social Practice Queens, Queens College, CUNY, which he cofounded with Maureen Connor and the Queens Museum in 2010.
Chloë Bass is an artist and public practitioner focused on scales of interpersonal intimacy and daily life as a site of deep research. She is a regular contributor to Hyperallergic, where she writes about the urban environment, performance, social practice, and race. Her artistic work has been supported by many organizations, including the Laundromat Project, the Pulitzer Foundation, and Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. A graduate of Yale and Brooklyn College, she is an assistant professor of art, teaching in Social Practice Queens, Queens College, CUNY.