How do the arts activate public life? What is the role of the arts in sustaining democracy? In different eras and regions of the world, citizens have responded to these questions quite differently. As we mark the 250th anniversary of both the Phi Beta Kappa Society and of the United States of America, these questions have never been more resonant. The arts are key to advancing the rights of free assembly and of free expression. The arts contribute to social movements and to the formation of civic identity. This lecture alights upon a range of socially engaged art practices, investigating how the arts both shape and challenge our sense of community. Considering historic examples as well as those from our present moment—including ideas from Wheaton College students— we will explore how public art can open us to new ideas of what democracy might mean.

Through the Phi Beta Kappa Society’s Visiting Scholar Program, Dr. Jackson, Professor of the Arts & Humanities and Department Chair of History of Art at UC Berkeley, will visit Wheaton for two days.

The poet, Donna Stonecipher, is a translator, living in Berlin. She is the author of six books of poetry, most recently The Ruins of Nostalgia. This particular book is a series of prose poems remarking on her different nostalgic views on Seattle, her hometown. And juxtaposing that to what nostalgia might mean to Berlin. Germany has a complicated history. And Berlin, in particular, where rebuilding has to account for its very recent history as a divided city.

Finnegan Shannon is a multidisciplinary artist whose work experiments with access and ableist assumptions. At Wheaton this semester, they will explore Alt text as poetry in an ongoing collaborative project with students. After the artist’s talk, Beard and Weil Galleries will be open for students to talk to Finnegan and hear more about joining the project.

Presented by the Evelyn Danzig Haas ’39 Visiting Artists Program.

Over the last half century, hip hop has taken over the world. Its beginning is marked by Cindy and Clive Campbell’s (aka DJ Kool Herc) legendary back-to-school party held in the Bronx on August 11, 1973. Since that time, hip hop has spread around the globe, lending its influence to innumerable spaces. Style is one of the most pervasive and visible manifestations of the culture, and twenty- first century fashion, from luxury labels to everyday dress, owes a debt to hip hop. Join Associate Curator Elizabeth Way to discuss her recent exhibition celebrating hip hop style at the Museum of the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT). Ms. Way will also discuss her curatorial specializations, impactful Black designers in American fashion and the historical evolution of fashion systems rooted in American slavery. 

Soloway is the creator of the groundbreaking Amazon series Transparent, a poignant comedy that artfully explores identity, love, sex, god, and boundaries through the lives of a complicated American family. Other contributions to American/Jewish/Feminist/Trans culture include the critical I Love Dick, adapted from the novel by Chris Kraus and the Sundance award winning film Afternoon Delight. Soloway will discuss their creative process and career in a Q&A style conversation.

Join us for a conversation with Museum founder Debra Britt and educator Beth Danesco. They will share the story of the creation of the National Black Doll Museum and the rich history of Black doll makers and collectors in the Massachusetts area.

Artist Shaquora R’ Bey will share her history as a doll maker and soft sculptor. Bey is an artist whose work encompasses a wide range of media including textiles, crotchet, beads, and unique hair designs. She has been commissioned to make sculptures and dolls for television and films. She believes in the healing process of using craft as therapy and in using art to raise self-esteem and awareness. Her soft sculptures, which she describes as “the embodiment of femininity and masculinity,” are featured in What Only You Can Make in the Beard and Weil Galleries.

Writer Kim Adrian reads from her memoir “The Twenty-Seventh Letter of the Alphabet” and discusses growing up with the confusion and chaos of mental illness and generational trauma.  A brief Q&A will follow this lunchtime event.

Mourning in the abandoned industrial landscape, holding space in the detritus of capitalism: how can we turn symbols of death into the practice of life? Public Art at Wheaton (PAAW) invites you to hear from the artist behind its most recent addition. Zibby Jahns will introduce their work Reckoning Place, which was just installed in Everett Courtyard, and talk about their artistic practice.