Semester: 

Fall

Offered: 

2018

Street Art as Visual Text
Seminar (3 credits)

  1. Visit street art sites in person to interpret cultural implications grass-roots arts interventions
  2. Study aesthetics of street art as a form of decolonizing visual design, including issues of power, privilege, social justice, creative activism
  3. Reading: Crimes of Style: Urban Graffiti and the Politics of Criminality, Jeff Ferrell
  4. Place new, temporary Communication Design interventions into the city landscape:
  • Graffiti writing (legally, of course)
  • Public art installation in downtown Tempe with ~40 local volunteers
  • Grand Avenue Festival 2018 / Exhibit of students’ wheat-paste posters
  • Designs for large-scale billboards installed in the Phoenix region
Billboard Design Alison Hughes
See also: Project Photos
I voted wheatpaste poster by Carly Small
See also: Project Photos
What Inspires You? Fence art in Tempe
See also: Project Photos


Tempe Downtown Foundation $2,500 cashCommunity Partner:

Corporate Supporters:

  • Clear Channel Outdoor ~$25,000 in-kind
  • Silicon Valley Bank ~40 volunteer hours $24.14/hour = $965 (according to independentsector.org)  

Guest Critics:

  • Julie Kent, Placemaking Coordinator, Downtown Tempe Authority

Guest Speakers:

  • Todd Broeker, Regional Creative Leader, Clear Channel Outdoor
  • Such & Champ Styles, Father and Son Artist-team | Graffiti Lettering Workshop
  • Mario Durok, Artist | Spray Painting Demonstration

Field Trips:

  • Roosevelt Row Arts District
  • Grand Avenue Arts District
  • Unexpected Art Gallery
  • Downtown Tempe