Denver Art Museum
Distance Learning Program: Art and Social Justice Class
Partners: Arapahoe Ridge High School, Boulder Valley School District; Vista Peak Exploratory, Aurora Public Schools; Jonny 5, Flobots
Educators: Sarah Flynn, Arapahoe Ridge High School; Kim Walter, Arapahoe Ridge High School; Joy Pack, Visual Arts Instructor, Vista Peak Exploratory; Yolanda Calderon, Instrumental Music Instructor, Vista Peak Exploratory
Location: Denver, CO
Josh Stone, 12th Grade Dennis Lamb, 11th Grade
Veteran, 2014 Feel Safe Yet, 2014
Digital Print Digital Print
Briseda Cesneros Castenada and Mariah Medina, 8th Grade
Finding the Balance, 2014
Acrylic paint on paper
DJ Cox and Julian Robinson, 8th Grade
We Follow, We're Next, 2014
Construction paper, acrylic paint
The Distance Learning Program serves the community by connecting classrooms with the museum’s encyclopedic collection. As part of this program, the art and social justice class was developed in response to teacher requests to expose their classes to the works in the museum with topics that would resonate with their students. Inspired by the exhibition Drawn to Action: Posters from the AIGA Design Archives, and focusing on 21st century skills, middle and high school students designed posters that addressed social justice issues affecting their community, while taking into account what they had learned about the effective use of color, text, and imagery.