Ellen C. Caldwell | ECLAIRE.me

With a non-traditional mode, political poster artists inundate everyday viewers with high-contrast images that inspire, instruct, and instill something quite out of the ordinary. It is in these unexpected moments that commuters become viewers and artists become inspirations.

Let’s revisit Christopher Columbus through a variety of lenses, examining the myths and legends behind this once exalted and now oft-contested figure.

Environmental art is an urgent call to action: visitors hopefully will be moved enough to both learn and change habits in order to decrease their environmental footprint(s) on earth. Reactions to Eco-art are often complicated, comprised of a juxtaposition of feelings — aesthetically pleasing, depressing, instructive, foreboding, compelling, informative, deeply moving, and hopefully deeply motivating.

Both Rodia’s Watts Towers and Purifoy’s assemblage sculptures remind us of the power of arts — to heal and learn through the creative process and to take inspiration from the mighty symbolism of altering abandoned trash into transformative treasure.

The Guerrilla Girls began using public billboards as their medium with minimalist advertising-inspired font and graphics as their mode. And their message? The very numbers that first appalled them at the museum became their weapon and message of choice.

So, what do readers think of when they picture “Africa”? What if that can be redefined, reframed, and rewritten — all with a hashtag? Take a moment to explore and contribute to #TheAfricaTheMediaNeverShowsYou — it could expand your world and your own worldview without ever getting out of your chair.

In Giverny, visitors are treated to artistic inspiration and a feast for the eyes on two different levels: they may experience this for themselves in touring the grounds of Monet’s Giverny home, but they may also experience this through his eyes.

In language, form, and subject, Coates picks up this dream where Baldwin left off. Throughout his book, he refers to the “Dreamers,” comprised of “people who think they are white” who are fully and blindly invested in both the mythology and rich inheritance of the American dream, without any understanding or acknowledgement of the violence upon which our country, and their privilege, was founded.

Artist Kerry James Marshall revisits lynching photography from the 1930s, an all-too-familiar American form of terror. These photos which were often turned into postcards that were circulated in order to spread fear and terror even farther afield, he addresses this darker and extremely relevant history with his 2002 triptych Heirlooms and Accessories.

Pow! Wow! mural festivals are growing internationally and exponentially. Learn about the rise and acceptance of street art.