Sonia BasSheva Mañjon, vice president for diversity and strategic partnerships, speaks on "Community Arts in the Academy: An Emerging Field in Liberal Arts Education" during the Green Street Arts Center Sunday Salon series Feb. 8. Mañjon explored how liberal arts institutions are integrating community engagement practices with art applications to produce both curricular and co-curricular content.
Mañjon developed the first BFA program in Community Arts at California College of the Arts and has worked with both art and liberal art institutions and national organizations, including Imagining America, to research, document, and speak about the power of art in engaging community collaborations and social justice practices.From left, clockwise, Mariah Klaneski '04, graphic designer in Information Technology Services; community member Sam Reisner; former post doc for David Beveridge, Bethany Kormos; and Brianna Zinser '06 discuss the talk. Ann-Marie Cannata, director of The Buttonwood Tree in Middletown, Conn., center, speaks with Frank Kuan, director of community relations, and Mañjon.From left, community members Rochleighz Wholse and Cocomo Rock, and Janis Astor del Valle, director of the Green Street Arts Center, participate in a question and answer session following the talk. Mañjon showed a video presentation from a project she worked on at California College of the Arts titled "Crafting a Vision for Art, Equity and Civic Engagement."Mañjon speaks with GSAC board member David Beveridge, the University Professor of the Sciences and Mathematics, professor of chemistry, following her talk. The event was open to all members of the Wesleyan and local community. (Photos by Alexandra Portis '09)
Olivia Drake
James Sims
Editorial Staff
Ziba Kashef