ArtCenter students at work (Photo – artcenter.edu)
Forming a scaffold of ethical considerations in relationship to the art of design is critical to our times.
By Garrett Rowlan
The ArtCenter has Received $25,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The NEA Grant will support SAFE & SOUND ARTS: Raising National Awareness of Ethical Interactions in Art and Design.
ArtCenter College of Design will collaborate with the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design to develop a series of short accessible webinars and supplements to webinars offering academic and professional communities guidance for ethical choices in art and design practice, primarily in the visual arts.
Lorne M. Buchman, president of Art Center and chair of the ALCAD Board of Directors, stated, “We’re honored to receive this support from the NEA for a project addressing an issue that has serious implications for artists and designers across the nation who interact with people for their work.”
Consideration of ethical choices in art and design practice is essential in light of concerns about invasions of privacy and the viral nature of online interactions. Examples of the range of issues include taking a person’s photo and sharing it without consent, taking a minor’s photo without a parent’s consent, knowledge of legal or medical tidbits that crop up unexpectedly in in the course of an interview or project, and physical danger posed by wearable devices.
The SAFE & SOUND ARTS project will cover “…everything from how and who a product designed considers when developing the design of an object, to the relationships a photographer develops when documenting a place and people with an image, to the participatory practices makers use to engage with community, according to Sean Donahue, Associate Profession, Graduate Media Design Practices at ArtCenter and author of the NEA grant.
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