From Dean Paul Kassel
April 21, 2021
Just under a year ago, we began to respond to the murder of George Floyd and the subsequent calls for action and social justice and to remind us all that Black Lives Matter. Today, a jury found the perpetrator guilty on all counts and affirmed that proposition. While there are more developments sure to come–perhaps welcome, perhaps not–we in the arts must continue to move forward in the urgent and important work of giving voice, vision, body and soul to the innermost feelings of those who have been silenced, blinded, hobbled, and dispirited.
We echo a statement sent out by the Association of American Colleges and Universities and promise that we in the College of Visual and Performing Arts will continue our work to prepare the next generation of artists, scholars and teachers “to build just and equitable communities and to promote racial healing on campuses and in communities across the country.”
In solidarity,
Dean Paul Kassel
NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts
EDUCATE
- What should you know?
- What might you do?
- How can you step up and/or help others to step up?
Where does Anti-Racism live in your practice?
From creative-generation.org You told your story, now what? If this were the Registry of Multiple Voices (RMV), the enormous waiting period might cause one to give up. Artists constantly use their medium to expressive themselves, however, the feedback lacks. The very...
NIU Music Library digital exhibit: Just Give Me My Equality – A look at protest music through history
For as long as music has been around people have used it to express their thoughts, feelings, and opinions. Music allows us to express ourselves in a way that speaking or writing cannot. It serves to connect people and bring them together through song and...
Race: The Power of an Illusion
An online companion to the award-winning documentary series by California Newsreel discussing the origins, beliefs and consequences of what we call race.
CREATE
- What should you know?
- What might you do?
- How can you step up and/or help others to step up?
Online Art & Design Studio Instruction in the Age of “Social Distancing”
A Facebook group created by Megan Montague Cash. (Photo by Michael Hall)
Antioch College – Stand for Justice resources
A compilation of resources on dealing with racial trauma, organizing and leadership, voting information and organizations. [Read more]
Culture Type: Painter Titus Kaphur focuses on a black mother’s loss for Time Magazine cover about police killings and American uprising
REPRESENTING THE SORROW of generations, Titus Kaphar painted a black mother for the cover of Time magazine. Her eyes are closed in anguish. She holds her young son, but he is not there. The artist has cut the child from the canvas. All that remains is an empty...
RESEARCH
- What has been the response by artists in the past to oppression?
- What is the story?
- Who is telling it?
- How might we draw greater attention to voices and visions that historically were not seen and heard?
We Insist! – Jazz and Black artists action community
WE INSIST! is a jazz and Black arts action community and an evolving project to convey a True history. WE INSIST! is intended to stimulate discussion, to exist in collaboration with the movement to protect Black lives, and to offer arts, educational, media, and...
The Black Music History Library
This is a living collection of books, articles, documentaries, series, podcasts and more about the Black origins of traditional and popular music dating from the 18th century to present day. Resources are organized chronologically and by genre for ease of browsing....
Something Happened in Our Town – animated version
Something Happened in Our Town - A child's story about racial injustice Book version
Featured Video
Artist Titus Kaphar makes paintings and sculptures that wrestle with the struggles of the past while speaking to the diversity and advances of the present. In an unforgettable live workshop, Kaphar takes a brush full of white paint to a replica of a 17th-century Frans Hals painting, obscuring parts of the composition and bringing its hidden story into view. There’s a narrative coded in art like this, Kaphar says. What happens when we shift our focus and confront unspoken truths?
Contact Us
College of Visual and Performing Arts
1425 W. Lincoln Hwy
DeKalb, IL 60115