Attend presentation on an upcoming social justice art collaborative project

McKillop Library is hosting a joint faculty and student presentation entitled “Arts for Social Action: ‘It’s More Than a 1 Credit Course,’ ” to help spread the word about a collaborative social justice art project that students in the DNC-310 Arts for Social Action course are currently working on with local artists.

The online event will be given by Melody Gamba, adjunct professor in the Department of Theater, Music and Dance, as well as Nycole Marvelous, one of the artists involved in the project on Thursday, April 8, from 4:30-5:30 p.m. To register, go to the event on the library’s website.

The Arts for Social Action course, co-taught by Gamba and Marvelous, is open to any Salve Regina undergraduate student who is interested in social justice and utilizing the arts as a means to evoke community conversations, self reflect and strengthen their own voice for advocacy and change. The course is a requirement within the dance major, but it welcomes students from all majors to join, and prior art experience is not a required. All modes of artistic expression are explored and invited.

“The goal of the course is to inspire a new generation of change makers with the intention that the topics and conversations go far beyond the classroom walls and one semester of work,” said Gamba. “It is a life long journey.”

Students are currently involved in a project in collaboration with local artists to plan, design and install a Black Lives Matter community art piece at McKillop Library. During the upcoming online presentation, attendees will join Gamba, Marvelous and students as they share their community-based, anti-oppressive pedagogical approach in engaging in the story of Black Americans while examining their own power and privilege through the making of art. This presentation will share the methods that Gamba and Marvelous explore to build trust and community within the classroom with the hope of cultivating the next generation of compassionate social activists embodying the Mercy mission beyond Salve Regina’s gates.

The Black Lives Matter community art piece will be created on Salve Regina’s campus on Friday, April 9 through Sunday, April 11, with community partners and artists like Marvelous and Jy-Tique Harris, as well as Professor Gamba and students from the course. The completed art will be installed in the library on April 11. The goal is to find a permanent home on Salve Regina’s campus upon completion of the library installation, and participants are looking forward to exploring locations on campus for its permanent home.

Nycole Marvelous is an artist, arts educator, community activist, and social justice advocate. She is a member of several boards and is working toward equitable business ownership opportunities for artists of color in the North End of Newport. She can be found every week hosting a livestream event for community engagement and art making on Instagram.

Melody Gamba is a dance artist, educator, mental health counselor and dance/movement therapist who is an advocate for inclusive and equitable educational outreach, therapeutic interventions and social justice programming within her community. In addition to teaching at Salve Regina, she is also currently a program therapist at Butler Hospital.

To register, go to the event on the library’s website. Salve Regina community members who are interested in collaborating on this project are welcome to reach out via email to Melody.Gamba@salve.edu.

Featured photo by Getty Images/wildpixel