Eighteenth International Conference on the Arts in Society

Abstract

Art has the potential to be a powerful vehicle for social change. It has the ability to inspire, provoke, challenge, and mobilize individuals and communities to take action on important social issues. Through various mediums such as painting, sculpture, music, film, and performance, artists can express their perspectives on social issues and engage with audiences in meaningful ways. Art can also serve as a means for raising awareness about social issues that might otherwise go unnoticed or ignored. It can draw attention to topics such as poverty, discrimination, inequality, environmental degradation, and political corruption. By depicting the realities of these issues, art can inspire people to become more engaged and active in addressing them. This paper introduces a case study about the ways in which first-year college students from different art disciplines at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas engage environmental and social issues through research, to then produce a short video or environmental art piece that responds to those issues previously investigated. An important conclusion of this paper is that students oftentimes are unaware of their agency and ability to change society as artists, and the assignments they complete in the First-Year Seminar contribute to trigger a process of self-discovery and learning that is fundamental to develop one’s own artistic vision.