Art and Power: Creativity in Revolutionary Times

SAA is excited to present two free lectures by local Art History teacher Philip Nickel.  Philip has been teaching Art History for the last 22 years at Sprague High School.  He describes his experience with developing an art history program at Sprague as a unique opportunity that's been incredibly rewarding, adding that, "Having been dragged to museums from the time I could walk, I discovered that art history was a natural outgrowth of my political, literary, and cultural interests."

April 16 lecture 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.

Session 1: Identity Politics – Power and Authority

This section will survey art as a political statement of power and authority. It considers how governments and leaders express concepts to a public and how that messaging can be interpreted

Examples:

• Flavian Amphitheater / Pantheon
• Houdon’s Washington / Greenough’s Washington
• Henry VIII / Martin Luther
• President Obama / King George
• Oregon State Capitol / Governor Portraits

May 14 lecture 6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.

Session 2: Identity Politics – Resistance and Rebellion

This section will survey art as a form of rebellion against power and authority. It considers how individuals express resistance to a variety of forms of power and how art is used to question authority.  Special attention is paid to contemporary artworks.

Examples:

• Kara Walker / Lorna 
• SimpsonYinka 
• Shonebare
• Basquiat
• Ai Weiwei
• Paul Revere’s Boston Massacre
• Guerilla Girls
• Richard Serra’s 
• Abu Ghraib
  
  
  
  
  
  We are kicking off our adult programming with this two-part art history lecture series with additional programming and workshops to be announced this spring. You may register for one or both sessions.
  
  As you know, we have expenses and thus plan to charge a modest fee moving forward and SAA-members will receive special discounts. For this series we are going to offer it for free, but ask you to consider making a small contribution to cover our costs. To register for free, enter "0" in the payment amount on the next page or make a contribution to cover our costs.