#Class Reflections

Sadly, #class is out for an extended recess, but that doesn't mean it's over. We would like to invite all the participants of #class to submit personal reflections on your experiences. It has been said that there is no organized thought without writing. While #class was an amazing, immersive, and exhausting experience, the chalkboards never achieved what one might call 'organized thought' in response to our thesis statement. So, we would like to extend #class back into your think/work spaces to organize your thoughts.

I don't think there's any single way to approach this reflection, but we would ask you to respond in your own way to our original thesis, “art is a luxury commodity for the wealthy that limits the possibility of ownership, understanding, and access based on class, education and geography." We'd also encourage you to see if your experiences lead you to any solutions for helping "art make friends" because we realize that if we want public funding, support, and understanding for contemporary art then we need to earn it. It may not be enough to simply work hard in our studios and demand respect and support from others. We may have to, as Ben Davis argues, see ourselves as activists and artists. I don't know exactly what that looks like, but perhaps it begins with arts education for me, as a public school teacher. Maybe it is taking the awkward step of asking non-profits and museums if they have a budget that includes paying the artists as W.A.G.E suggests we all do. However you decide to approach your reflection, please keep in mind that we would like to post them on the blog (keep it brief!) If your reflection involves pictures or video that's also welcome as we'd love visual documentation of #class as well. Also, please reach out to anyone who might not be on our mailing list or contributed to #class in a spontaneous manner.

As of now, Jen and I also need to reflect on our experience and give ourselves some time to recover emotionally and physically from the marathon #class turned into. Believe me when I say we didn't understand what #class would require from us or what an amazing space it would become with all of your participation. While we figure out what's next for #class, we will continue the dialogue here. Please send your reflections to hashtagclass@gmail.com

Apparently, school is never out.