Aesthetic Praxis as Counter-History: Black Women Artists Refiguring Curriculum

• In Event: Transformative Visions for Arts Education

Abstract

This paper examines how three women visual artists use aesthetic praxis as a form of curriculum theory and counter-history. Drawing on Black feminist epistemologies, arts-based research, and curriculum studies, it explores how their visual, sonic, and performative works challenge dominant educational narratives and propose liberatory pedagogies. The study is grounded in multimodal qualitative methods, including interviews, visual elicitation, and participant-generated playlists. Through critical visual and sonic analysis, it finds that the artists’ practices function as counter-curriculum—foregrounding memory, resistance, and imagination. This work expands conceptions of curriculum to include embodied, creative, and community-rooted knowledge-making. It offers arts-integrated approaches to educational justice, especially relevant in a climate of cultural censorship and curricular erasure.

Author

• Jacqueline Cofield, Hunter College - CUNY