The SPCUNY educational network amplifies the collective power of socially engaged artists, scholars, and advocates throughout the City University of New York’s rich tapestry of faculty, staff, and students working for social justice. Based at the CUNY Graduate Center, SPCUNY’s theory of educational transformation fosters structures for diverse creative leaders who will empower New York City as an inclusive, justice-driven cultural landscape. This initiative is funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
CUNY Graduate Students: Applications Open Until April 28
We are pleased to announce the open call for the 2024–25 SPCUNY Actionist Fellowship. We’re accepting applications through April 28, 2024.
Actionists are CUNY graduate students with a serious art practice, often but not always from MFA programs, who are working to develop an independent project at the intersection of art and social justice. Selected through an open call, this group will be part of a wider SPCUNY 2024-25 cohort, which includes CUNY faculty/practitioners, all of whom are also developing their own projects. Actionists participate in a weekly seminar in the Fall and Spring semesters that includes all student members of the cohort, and they receive $3,000 in the form of CUNY fellowships towards the fulfillment of their public-facing project.
You will likely benefit the most from being an Actionist with SPCUNY if you are a CUNY graduate student who is:
- Working towards one or more socially-engaged art projects, and has an existing basic knowledge of social practice art
- Interested in furthering your engagement with social practice and public-facing art beyond the requirements of an academic program
- Interested in discussions around social practice’s core issues while developing a project independently
Photo: Kickoff party for Echoes of Youth, a multigenerational sound map exploring youth experiences throughout New York City (artist: 2022-23 Actionist Megan Hattie Stahl). Image courtesy of the artist.
Welcome to Catherine LaSota, our new Associate Director!
We are so excited to welcome Catherine LaSota as our first Associate Director of Social Practice CUNY. Catherine’s background in directing multidisciplinary academic institutes, organizing creative communities, and her own training as a creative writer, sculptor, and musician represents a synthesis of SPCUNY’s goals to foster artist leadership and engage in conversations across disciplines. Introducing the Associate Director role also offers SPCUNY a significant chance to increase our public presence both within CUNY and beyond.
Welcoming our 2023–2024 Faculty, Student, and Actionist Fellows!
Social Practice CUNY (SPCUNY) is pleased to announce the newest cohort of the Faculty, Student, and Actionist Fellows. Now in its third year, these CUNY-wide Fellowships recognized 25 socially engaged artists, scholars, and cultural leaders for their commitment to bringing social change through art, marking the only higher education network in the U.S. dedicated to connecting socially engaged artists and scholars across the 25 campuses of a public, urban university. Learn more about them here.
Photo: Collage of headshots of the full cohort, images courtesy of the artists.
Interdisciplinary Artist Natalia Nakazawa Joins Social Practice CUNY as the 2023–24 Social Practice Teaching Scholar-in-Residence
Social Practice CUNY is pleased to announce the appointment of Queens–based artist Natalia Nakazawa as the 2023–24 Social Practice Teaching Scholar-in-Residence. A socially engaged practitioner focusing on issues of community activism and educational uplift, Nakazawa brings years of experience relevant across SPCUNY’s intersecting commitments and priorities: the desire to support interdisciplinary creators working at the intersection of art and social justice; the hope to train a future generation of arts leaders able to bring diverse perspectives to institutional work; and the commitment to new strategies of pedagogy engaged with the vibrant life of New York City. The SPCUNY Teaching Scholar-in-Residence program piloted in Spring 2023 with Tom Finkelpearl, who will be continuing to advise and work with SPCUNY alongside Nakazawa. The residency is rooted in SPCUNY’s hypothesis that careful education, interdisciplinary training, and commitment to students working at the intersection of arts and activism will pave the way for an engaged and powerful cohort of arts and community leaders.
Tom Finkelpearl, Former Commissioner of NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, Joins Social Practice CUNY as the Inaugural Social Practice Teaching Scholar-in-Residence
Social Practice CUNY is pleased to announce the appointment of Tom Finkelpearl as the inaugural Social Practice Teaching Scholar-in-Residence for Spring 2023. As part of his role, he will draw on his extensive New York experience as the former commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs, as well as his Queens-specific knowledge from his time at the Director of the Queens Museum, to amplify Social Practice CUNY’s connections and engagement with the larger cultural landscape and fabric of our complex urban environment. In addition, Finkelpearl will be teaching the undergraduate course Intro to Socially Engaged Art as an Adjunct Associate Professor, working closely with seven MFA students on Independent Study.
ART AS SOCIAL ACTION – AMAZON RATED #1 NEW RELEASE IN PUBLIC ART
Art as Social Action is both a general introduction to, and an illustrated, practical textbook for the field of social practice.
Memes Are Dominating Attention Spans and Clicks Like Never Before. So Why Is Serious Socially Engaged Art Also Thriving?
A mohawk-topped black man defiantly marches forward across a public plaza as a weaponized water cannon blasts him back, creating a visceral spectacle recalling civil rights confrontations in 1960s Birmingham, Alabama, but the year is really 2014, and the place is New York City. A series of free workshops teaches eager participants the art and history of protest songs, all the while repurposing such musical dissent to accommodate issues of contemporary resistance.
Exhibition – Art As Social Action: 10 Years of Social Practice Queens
The phrase “Art As Social Action” is both a philosophy and a call for activity. It emphasizes the potential for artistic engagement to support positive political change beyond art for art’s sake, and creativity as a tool for connection and celebration. Through collaborations with organizers, political groups, and even labor unions, art that is socially engaged allows the artist’s mind, skills, and approaches to amplify community efforts and support acts of public service.
