ART 598 Art and Social Practice Workshop- Harrell Fletcher and Jen Delos Reyes
This intensive weekly workshop is designed to give students time with their faculty and peers to discuss their work, engage in conversation, investigate their research, develop their presentation skills and partake in group activities.  Each quarter students will get time to lead a class, this can take many forms and can happen in any location the student would like to take the class. As part of this course we will also work together on the administration and execution of group exhibitions, trips, residencies and other types of opportunities as they present themselves or as we create them.

Course Objectives

• To develop the skills needed to work in a creative group situation.
• To develop presentation skills to be able to talk about one’s work in a full, complex and situated manner.
• To share one’s work and research in a group environment to receive feedback and  support.
• To work publicly and develop new work to be shared with audiences in a variety of contexts.
• To examine the various ways one can connect to their community, contextualize their learning and art practice publicly and mobilize themselves and others to share information and create work that engages communities.

ART 410/510 History of Art and Social Practice- Jen Delos Reyes

This course will trace a history of social practice in art and investigate as a group the current critiques, debates and issues surrounding its current state in relation to its historical context. The course will examine social practice from 1920 to present and touch on the key movements and artists including Dada, Neo-Concretism, Situationism, Fluxus, Happenings, Social Sculpture, New Genre Public Art, art and activism, network art, Social Aesthetics, post-studio practices, and Relational Aesthetics. This course will place a strong emphasis on contemporary examples of art and social practice.  Through group activities, discussions, student led seminars and participatory projects the class will work together to address the some of following questions: can socially engaged art do more harm than good? Are there ethical responsibilities for social art? Does socially engaged art have to do civic or public good? Can there be transdisciplinary approaches to contemporary art making that would contribute to issues such as urban planning and sustainability? As both urban planning and contemporary art imagine new worlds, how can art projects be seen as potential models for living?

ART 583 Teaching Visual Culture- Jen Delos Reyes
Through the examination of a variety of approaches teaching visual culture, alternative approaches to pedagogy, a history of art schools, and an overview of educational models and methods students will begin to develop their own approaches to teaching using their own art practices as the foundation. Students will gain insight into how to approach teaching visual culture from both inside and outside of the academy through direct interaction with a variety of guest lecturers, student led readings, and hands on activities. In this seminar students will create a course syllabus/outline based on their TA assignment (if applicable), lead a critique and write a teaching philosoph. The experience and expertise of various educators will be directly implemented into this course as a way to give students a rich, varied and multi-faceted perspective on teaching as well as experience based models. Assessment, engagement and reflection will be stressed in teaching, inquiry and practice.

ART 586 Visiting Artist Seminar- Harrell Fletcher

Portland State University’s Art Department offers free public lectures every Monday night of the school year. This years current lecture line up can be found  here.

A major part of the MFA in Contemporary Art Practice curriculum is the Monday Night Lecture Series where both studio and social practice students have a dinner with the visiting lecturer and take in a student presentation during dinner. After the public lecture students get to have an additional Q & A session with the lecturer over drinks.

PMMNLS gives students incredible access to a varied selection of international, national and local individuals. In addition students also get to have a series of one on one meetings with a selection of lecturers per term.

Past PMMNLS lecturers include Dan Graham, Jim Drain, Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Julia Bryan-Wilson, Allan McCullum, San Keller, Lisa Sigal, Byron Kim, Fritz Haeg, Matthew Higgs, Courtney Fink and Stephanie Smith.

PMMNLS visiting artists are interviewed each Monday on Art Talk AM on the Radio: 12-1 PM. Find it at 98.3 FM on the PSU campus, streaming at KPSU.org and available at arttalkam.blogspot.com.

Image: Journal of Aesthetics and Protest lecture, November 2, 2009.