ART Habens
Beth Krensky
practice to impact change for two decades with over 170 exhibitions on four continents.
Besides producing your works, you hold the position of professor of art education: moreover, you are known largely for your scholarly works, writings, and also for your work in the field— specifically, going into diverse communities and working with children, making art, promoting dialogue and healing. How does this aspect of your work influence your practice? In particular, have you ever been inspired from your students ' ideas?
I began teaching in the urban core of Boston, learning and working alongside young artists who taught me grace and hope in the face of extreme odds. They have remained my greatest teachers and still inspire me. Years later, I entered the academy to teach future community leaders and educators about equity and justice through the arts and education. In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Friere wrote that,“ Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient, continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.”
I strive for my work as an artist and educator to engage in the type of restless and hopeful inquiry that Freire believed had the power to reinvent— or perhaps repair— the world.
Thanks a lot for your time and for sharing your thoughts, Beth. Finally, would you like to tell us readers something about your future projects? How do you see your work evolving?
My artistic practice is a living practice— one that supports sustainability of individuals and the planet— and is a flexible entity that
Where is the Road to the Road
responds to different contexts and ideas. Recent political changes in the United States have pushed me to respond. I am working on an installation of Courageous Acts of Kindness that highlights all of the brave acts people are engaging in to create and maintain spaces of tolerance, freedom, courage and kindness. I am also working on
Special Issue
23 405