CFA ENGAGING OUR COMMUNITY
SOCIAL JUSTICE ADVOCACY
S O CI A L JU STI C E ADVO CACY
Laband Art Gallery Campus-based art galleries and museums are situated on nearly every college and university in the United States. These art venues reflect the profiles of their respective institutions and bring wide-ranging approaches and missions to conversations about art. LMU’s Laband Art Gallery engages LMU’s Jesuit and Marymount values and traditions by presenting thought-provoking exhibitions that are responsive to issues that are actively unfolding. The Laband is committed to giving voice and visibility to communities who currently struggle to be seen and heard such as LGBTQ, people of color, and femaleidentifying artists. Art has the ability to communicate and evoke emotion in unexpected ways and open up critical discussions about the human condition. “Confess,” the 2019 solo exhibition by artist Trina McKillen, is an example of a project that opened up challenging conversations. Comprised of multiple installations, “Confess” addressed the subject of the clerical sexual abuse of children and the havoc it has wreaked on individuals and their families. Exhibitionrelated programming was carefully conceived together with various university partners and welcomed community members to join us and explore profound questions raised by the issues of our time.
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“I never felt like I had the privilege to be neutral as an artist. … And so I would hope that every single artist — whether or not their work is directly speaking to political problems … is making time and space to be politically engaged, to be reading, to be registered to vote if they can, to inspire other people to vote and to exercise democracy on a daily basis.” Antonius-Tín Bui, Artist, Finding Heart (tim tim) Other socially engaged exhibitions have turned a spotlight on notions of identity. Queer identity was explored in fall 2019’s exhibition “Finding Heart (tìm tim)” by Antonius-Tín Bui. The delicate paper cutting portrait series on display features queer Asian American Pacific Islanders, and his Donrose paper fashion depicts male bodies adorned in majestic-looking, cut-out paper garments that convey a sense of mystery, beauty and fragility. As a queer, gender non-binary, VietnameseAmerican artist, Bui’s work celebrates, honors, and challenges assumptions about intersectional identities. Site specific installations around LMU’s campus such as Yarnbombing and DreamWavers were curated and promoted by the Laband, and have taken on complex topics such as coral destruction, immigrant rights, LGBTQ rights, and bullying.
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