The Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art hosted Auburn University's 2015 Breeden Scholar recipient, Rick Lowe, as he gave his talk, "Social Community Engaged Art: The Genuine and the Artificial," on Thursday, Jan. 22.
Lowe discussed his past experiences and future plans involving Auburn University.
Lowe first encountered by Auburn University when Wendy DesChene, associate professor of art, first met Lowe in 2011.
At that time, Lowe was the master artist-in-residence for the Atlantic Center for the Arts in New Smyrna Beach. Florida.
President Barack Obama appointed Lowe to the National Council on the Arts. Lowe is also a MacArthur Fellow, a prize awarded annually to people who show promise in their field.
"Every success that Rick gets is a success for artists who are pushing the boundaries and the boxes of what art is and how it fits in," DesChene said. "Rick has taken those boxes and turned them into houses."
Lowe is an Alabama native and began his work as a painter.
He said he would typically design pieces that addressed social issues in the world.
He said he had a life-altering experience in 1990 while he was teaching high school children about art in his studio.
"(A high school student) came up to me and said, 'Mr. Lowe, your paintings and sculptures show what happens in our communities, but that's not what we need,'" Lowe said. "'We don't need to be told what the issues are, we know what they are. If you're an artist and you're creative, then why can't you create a solution?'"
Lowe said this caused him to begin to change his perception of art and his role in finding the solutions to the problems in communities.
Lowe said he then became engaged as both an artist and community activist within communties.
Lowe said one community especially gained his attention.
His first major project stands in Houston's 3rd Ward.
A series of shotgun houses were deemed dangerous and ill fit for human residency by the city.
Lowe rallied community members together to renovate these houses to serve as a community art piece.
Each house holds a different art or history presentation about the 3rd Ward community.
The series of houses eventually became known as "Project Row Houses."
"Project Row Houses" also serves as non-profit organization working to improve the local community.
Lowe said the houses will draw attention to the area and make people not only want to visit, but also become involved with the community.
The group successfully renovated 22 of the shotgun houses.
According to Lowe, only 15 of the houses were displayed to the public.
The remaining 7 houses were used as transitional homes for struggling single mothers.
Lowe said "Project Row Houses" sparked many other undertakings in his career, but this accomplishment is the one he is most credited for and one of the reasons he is Auburn University's 2015 Breeden Scholar.
"Persons named to the Breeden Eminent Chair are nationally recognized in their field with outstanding credentials in arts or humanities," said Maiben Beard, Outreach Associate for the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities. "(Chair holders) are expected to contribute a unique quality to the teaching and learning objectives of the College of Liberal Arts, such as Rick Lowe's arts-driven community building projects."
Lowe said he will be co-instructing a course this spring with DesChene on Auburn's campus entitled "Special Topics: Social and Community Engaged Practice."
During the course Lowe said he hopes to construct a community art project in Auburn just as he has done around North America.
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