Abstract
An art educator describes how she used her knowledge and experience of artistic and educational initiatives that forefront collective activity in real world settings to transform her backyard into an urban farm with the help of friends and neighbors. She combines an autoethnographic account of her experiences, including original photographs, with research on conceptual artists, participatory culture, and creative placemaking to position her work as participatory environmental art education. The paper is organized around the major steps one undertakes in planting a garden – siting, amending, seeding, tending, and harvesting - to draw parallels between the processes of maintaining a garden, and designing and implementing holistic art education. Urban farming is growing in cities around the world. The author believes art educators have a role to play as community leaders in such ventures.
Recommended Citation
Kushins, Jodi
(2015)
"Art Education in My Backyard: Creative Placemaking on an Urban Farm,"
Artizein: Arts and Teaching Journal: Vol. 1:
Iss.
1, Article 10.
Available at:
https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/atj/vol1/iss1/10
Included in
Art and Design Commons, Art Education Commons, Art Practice Commons, Civic and Community Engagement Commons, Community-Based Learning Commons, Curriculum and Instruction Commons, Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Educational Methods Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Food Security Commons, Human Geography Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Regional Economics Commons, Rural Sociology Commons, Urban Studies Commons