Topics and Questions We Can Help You To Answer:
Paper Instructions:

if you choose prompt one, please find one of the meseums from Beijing China, Thanks!

FRAMING:

This week's theme was Art and Activism.  Lectures and reading examined the ways in which Second Wave feminism influenced the production of art by feminist artists, particularly in the 1970s.  We took a closer look at the career of Ana Mendieta.  We also encountered readings that considered art activism along a racial axis.  This week's writing will challenge you to link the theoretical portions of the reading with specific examples of artwork.  Thus, it will rely on your having become familiar with this week's selections of art. 

INSTRUCTIONS: 

Pick one of the prompts below and write an essay (400-700 words) in response in formal academic English.  (So basically, your best grammar, punctuation and spelling; citations for quoted materials; paragraphing; and an internal structure to the essay—e.g., intro, body, conclusion.)  For citations, please use footnotes or endnotes. 

If you are unfamiliar with footnote citation systems, please consult online resources that explain them. The Turabian system and the University of Chicago system are nearly identical.  The websites linked below organize the material in different ways; so, consult the one you find more readable:  https://www.library.georgetown.edu/tutorials/research-guides/turabian-footnote-guide (Links to an external site.) OR http://www.press.uchicago.edu/books/turabian/turabian_citationguide.html

PROMPTS [only two choices this week.  as always, pick the one that interests you!]

Please underline the thesis of your paper.  And cut and paste the prompt you select at the top of your essay!  Thank you. 

1. You are the Curator!  You are the curator for your local art museum in your hometown.  The Museum Director has asked you to prepare an introductory statement of about 400-700 words for an upcoming exhibit on Feminist Art.  The Director has asked that your statement feel like a brief essay and should even include footnotes where appropriate.  In your first paragraph, please provide a summary statement that defines some of the main characteristics of art associated with the Feminist Art movement.  In your next two paragraphs, provide a brief biographical profile of two artists (one artist per paragraph). Do not simply cut and paste the information from the source. Use your own words.  By citing two pieces of art done by each artist, explain how the artist’s work fits the model of feminist art.  (Cite to the website when relevant to do so.)

2. Race is an important aspect of individual identity for individuals in the United States.  Artists, whose creative work also expresses an identity, sometimes can comment on aspects of their racial experience in their work. Consider the essay by Chang and the article by Platt. Write a brief introductory paragraph that summarizes the main ideas in each essay. Then write one paragraph about how identity can shift for just one person; one paragraph about alienation from one’s cultural roots, and one paragraph about making the familiar unfamiliar.    For each paragraph identify a piece of an art that you believe exemplifies this quote.  (The art may be mentioned in Platt’s article, Chang’s essay, or even be a piece of feminist art that also comments on race.)  Explain how the artist conveys the message about race or racial identity through the composition of the piece.  You may want to think about these quotations as the inspiration for each paragraph.
People of color in the U.S. can often find themselves associated with multiple groups, so that their “identities are often multiple, contextual, hybrid, shifting, transnational, or unstable.” Chang (xi).
Art with racial themes creates the possibility to “[view] the familiar, such as places, people and life experiences in unfamiliar wars, of seeing America with ‘new eyes.’” Chang xiii [emphasis in original]
Sometimes art work can “suggest the emotional distance that can occur when someone is far from their cultural roots.” Platt, “Under My Skin Artists Explore Race in the 21st Century,” artandpoliticsnow.com.  [Platt was referencing the photographs by Canh Nguyen, however apply this notion of alienation from root culture to any artwork you think it applies to.]

Articles links:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-power-of-imagery-in-advancing-civil-rights-72983041/

https://www.colleendilen.com/2017/07/12/arts-culture-remain-less-important-younger-generations-data/

http://www.artandpoliticsnow.com/2013/06/under-my-skin-artists-explore-race-in-the-21st-century/

https://escholarship.org/content/qt28q3p1nv/qt28q3p1nv.pdf

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-inexorable-lifeblood-of-forgotten-feminist-artist-ana-mendieta_n_56d8d518e4b0000de403fb70