Widener believes that the art that came out of the African American community during the 1960’s depicts the renewal and revival our world needs to progress towards social equality and respect for all human beings. He hopes that we will create a unified, caring society by using art to move away from a materialistic, wasteful world and towards a more meaningful, reflective outlook on humanity. Widener wants to see future generations understand the deeper meanings behind artistic expression and cultivate a societal appreciation for the present actions of artists and creators. He moved his analysis of artwork a step further and described how we can implement creativity in our education system. Widener examined the political undertones in African American artwork from the 1960’s to illuminate motifs of activism and a hope for social justice. Widener investigated the social role of art and how visual art emerged from the African American population in Los Angeles to represent a theme of renewal and the idea of reviving a broken, historically oppressed community. After attending his lecture, I wanted to take the time to reflect on Daniel Widner’s speech and contemplate what art means for education in immigrant and minority communities.ĭaniel Widener’s eye-opening perspective on the impact of visual arts for the African American community was insightful and engaging. As an accomplished professor and insightful academic, Widener has published a number of articles and essays as well as a book, Black Arts West: Culture and Struggle in Postwar Los Angeles. He teaches in the department of history with an emphasis on African American culture, history, and political radicalism.
Daniel Widener is a professor at the University of California San Diego. I attended this lecture, and walked away feeling moved and inspired. On September 18, 2012, Professor Daniel Widener gave a lecture at Occidental College on visual arts in the African American community. Influential African American artist Betye Saar, setting up her “Tangled Roots” exhibit at the Palmer Museum of Art on the University Park Campus of Penn State in 1996.
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