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Art of Justice with Max Gonzales + “so you want to talk about race”
March 16, 2019 @ 9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Artmaking + Literature + Social Justicefor young people and their grownups
ARTIST: Max Gonzales
BOOKS: House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros; and Alma and How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Noel
THEME: Art Belongs Everywhere | Letters, Words, Names
ARTMAKING: Graffiti
About the Project
Experience what it’s like to be a street artist and use the world as your canvas. Using paint markers on a graffiti wall, Max will work with young people and their grownups to create art that lets them experience what it’s like to work together to make something bigger than they could have made on their own. There will also be an be an artist talk for adults at 10:15 am and book readings for young people at 9:30 and 11:45 am
About the Artist: Max Gonzales
Max Emiliano Gonzales, also known by his artist name GEMS, is an activist, art educator, muralist, printmaker, and curator. Originally from the Southwest side of Chicago and raised in Latino communities, he brings a unique perspective to Pittsburgh as a queer identifying Chicano artist. Max has lectured and facilitated workshops at The University of Pittsburgh, Winchester Thurston, Youth Places, Assemble, and The Environmental Charter School, and is a member of Boom Concepts, Flower House Gallery, Wicked Pittsburgh and Pullproof Studios. Max believes in a teaching approach that removes barriers of elitism and inaccessibility, that values and empowers underrepresented voices, movements, and art forms in order illuminate how community voice has great significance.
About The Art of Justice!
Learn how artists are using art for social change and how their literary inspirations have guided their creative practice: make work alongside them to express yourself and share your vision for a just and equitable world. #artofjustice #remakelearning
Three artists, Alisha Wormsley, Max Gonzales and Darrell Kinsel will work with us on artmaking projects connected to literature, based on social justice themes. These will be suitable for all ages. Families are invited to come early, before classes, or to stay after classes to talk, read and make things together.
BOOK DISCUSSION – “So you want to talk about race” by Ijeoma Oluo
In this New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo explores the complex reality of today’s racial landscape–from white privilege and police brutality to systemic discrimination and the Black Lives Matter movement–offering straightforward clarity that readers need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide
Available on Amazon for $18.36; Kindle edition for $15.99; Audible audiobook for $14.95.
Sign up in the Social Hall to have us order a book for you, or to borrow a book from our Art of Justice library. If you would like to order your own copy from Amazon, consider ordering a second book to donate to the library so that everyone can join in the conversation.
This series is curated by Bekezela Mguni, of the Black Unicorn Library and Archives Project, and funded by The Great Remake Learning. Workshops and artmaking activities take place in the Social Hall (basement level) of ELPC on 10/27/18, 11/17/18, 12/1/18, 1/12/19, 1/19/19, 2/2/19, 2/9/19, and 3/16/19.
MAX GONZALES’ LITERARY INSPIRATIONS
FOR GROWNUPS
- Gender Trouble – Judith Butler
- Hip Hop Family Tree (graphic novel series) – Ed Piskor*
- Flip the Script – Christian P. Acker
- Cholo Style – Reynaldo Berrios
FOR TEENS (and grownups)
- The House on Mango Street – Sandra Cisneros*
- La Casa en Mango Street (spanish ed.) – Sandra Cisneros*
- Shadow Shaper – Daniel José Older
FOR CHILDREN (and teens and grownups)
- Alma and How She Got her Name – Juana Martinez-Noel*
*These books have been added to our collection. The Art of Justice is generously funded by Remake Learning’s The Great Remake
