Conference Proceedings 2010 [pdf] - Art & Design Symposium ...

productive social relationships, including the democratic practice (Giroux, 2003). Social activist art is an
essential component of a smoothly functioning democratic process; facilitating personal change and collective
social transformation.
References
Carroll, K. (2006). Towards a holistic paradigm of art education. Visual Arts Research, 32(1).
Eisner, E. (2004). The Arts and the Creation of Mind. Yale University Press.
Greene, M. (2000). Releasing the Imagination: Essays on Education, the Arts, and Social Change. New York:
Wiley, John & Sons Inc.
Giroux, H. (2003). Do hope and critical pedagogy matter under the reign of neoliberalism? In Issues in art and
design teaching, ed. N. Addison and L. Burgess, 8-18, London: Routledge Falmer.
Kriesberg, S.K. (1992). Transforming power-domination, empowerment, and education. New York: State
University of New York Press.
Read, T.V.( 2005). The Art of Protest: Culture and Activism from the Civil Rights Movement to the Streets of
Seattle. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.
Scott, J.C. (1992). Domination and the Arts of Resistance: Hidden Transcripts. Yale University Press.
America’s First People: Another Way of Knowing through the Design Process
Rebecca Sweet, East Carolina University
Purpose
Where are you if the last memory of your culture was documented 400+ years ago? And who are you that
during the passing years, your culture was not recognized, you could not speak your native language or
practice your customs? Where do you begin to find your sense of place? How do you design your environment
in 2010? These questions form the framework for a social justice, cultural diversity, inter-institutional, and
service-learning project for interior design and architectural technology students and faculty as well as our
client one of America’s First People.
The purpose of this paper is threefold: 1) To document a collaborative project that involves university and
community college entities, regional development, community support, and cultural diversity; 2) To illuminate
the importance of the interior design process as a means to address implicit and explicit needs of clients thus
providing a voice and visual record relative to culture and sense of place; and 3) To reflect on the importance
of service-learning as a social justice tool.
Background: Project Development
The project developed to serve as a sustainable design competition project for a faculty member from East
Carolina University’s (ECU) Department of Interior Design & Merchandising and a faculty member from Pitt
Community College’s (PCC) Architectural Technology Department. The faculty members collaborate every
spring combining their classes to: 1) Provide experience with a sustainable design team-based commercial
project; 2) Create an atmosphere of understanding and respect for divergent opinions; and 3) Work with a real
client. In the fall of 2008 the faculty began a journey to locate a community based service learning project with
those requirements. The journey led to the ECU Center for Sustainable Tourism (http://www.ecu.edu/csacad/sustainabletourism/mission.cfm),
North Carolina’s Eastern Region (development group,
http://www.nceast.org/), Wayne County Arts Council, and finally to our client, Dreamweaver, a Haliwa-Saponi
Indian who indeed did have a dream.
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