Artist Networks and Black Male Student Supports

• In Event: Creating Community: Student Support Networks for Black Students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Predominantly White Institutions

Abstract

Our paper draws from an anti-deficit qualitative lens that centers on the advantages of networking utilized by six Black male artists in their educational journeys towards careers as professional artists. The purpose was to contribute accounts from artists to the Black male achievement literature as such narratives are virtually absent from all educational inquiry including art education and Black male achievement scholarship (Harper, personal communication, April 4, 2014). By highlighting the successes of Black male artists, we counteract the homogenizing effects of deficit-based research that afflicts Black male educational experience (Howard, 2013). An Anti-Deficit Framework (Harper, 2012) and Critical Race Theory (Ladson, Billings & Tate, 1995) allowed for a fuller understanding of the potential of Black male artists within an educational context grounded in systemic racism. Our work was structured as an asset-based qualitative inquiry that framed the storytelling process as a form of retrospective construction, and validated the authority of participant interpretations (Chase, 2005).

Our findings echo Harper’s assertion that despite all that is stacked against Black male artists, they are somehow able to navigate a system that was never designed for their success. Group affinity emerged as an important finding, seen among peers on campus, across familial connections and with ideologically aligned peers outside of campus. Another finding revealed that responding to racism in critique experiences was a catalyst for building networks. Relationships on campus with college professors and advocates proved to be significant in motivating the artists in the study with academic guidance and life-lessons. Networking strategies were found among all of the artists as a tool used to develop professional contacts and career development.

We also draw our focus to an institutional model that makes more visible a network of support for Black artists through the Pathway Programs at a public, historically white, art college. This pathway program is assessed in relation to Harper’s (2012) Anti-Deficit Framework, outlining how Artward Bound (high school) to Academic Compass (college) give space for Black artists to thrive as they are emerging to be their most authentic selves while obtaining college degrees. These programs are unique in the United States, in that they provide the only contiguous support and mentoring for young artists and designers from the development years of high school through college degree completion.

Authors

• Lyssa H. Paluay, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
  Presenting Author

• Beth Balliro, Massachusetts College of Art and Design
  Presenting Author