Offered for the first time at Washburn University
Instructor - Dave Loewenstein
Community-Based Public Art: Roots and Practice* January 2011
*listed as Murals and Public Art in Washburn course catalog
Beginning with a series of lectures, visiting speakers, and field trips, this unique new course will introduce art students to the roots and current practice of collaborative community-based public art: projects that bring local people together in partnership with professional artists, to engage in an open process that culminates in the creation of site specific artworks reflecting their interests and their workmanship. Following the classroom work, students will move to the studio where each will develop their own design for a community mural at a specific site in the Topeka area. This process will include site visits, meetings with stakeholders, and consideration of logistics in the execution of the work. The completed designs will be shown at the end of the semester in an exhibition open to the public.
“The highest, most logical, purest and most powerful type of painting is mural painting. It is also the most disinterested, as it cannot be converted into an object of personal gain nor can it be concealed for the benefit of a few privileged people. It is for the people. It is for everybody.”
- Jose Clemente Orozco, Mexican Muralist
