PATRISSE CULLORS NAMED FACULTY DIRECTOR OF NEW SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ARTS PRACTICE MFA PROGRAM AT PRESCOTT COLLEGE
Prescott College has announced artist and activist Patrisse Cullors will be the Faculty Director of a new MFA in Social and Environmental Arts Practice at the school. Cullors, who is cofounder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network, said, “I see art and teaching as part of my future as an organizer and a leader. Taking two of the most powerful tools we have for expression — community organizing and art…this is how we shatter the current political climate. Art is the gateway to our imagination. It forces us to bend the norms. I use art as a tool and as a compass towards greater freedom and liberation. When art is centered through politics we are able to transform the material conditions for those most impacted by harm and violence. This program is going to lift up artists who are ready to be shapeshifters we so desperately need,” said Cullors.
Students enrolled in the 48-credit online MFA degree have the option to complete a residency in Los Angeles, California at The Crenshaw Dairy Mart, a studio co-founded by Cullors and many of the faculty that teach in the program. Cullors was intentional in every aspect of the program design, with classes lending themselves to evaluating nature, culture, society, and the environment through the arts. Core classes to complete as part of the curriculum include “Art as Social & Environmental Practice”, which introduces students to the fundamental theories and concepts of art as social and environmental practice; “The Rise of Performance Art in the Fine Arts World”, which will look at the ways social practice has evolved from 1960 to present; and “Studio Practice”, which is course work that can be fulfilled through mentorships and/or online courses as approved in the student’s degree roadmap. To learn more about the program visit: prescott.edu/mfa
