Artistic Actions for Sustainability in a University Setting (original) (raw)
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Why the Sustainability Movement Needs Art to Survive
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Artistic actions for sustainability : potential of art in education for sustainability
2017
This thesis is created with a support from my main supervisors, Timo Jokela a dean of art and art education from University of Lapland and Allyson Macdonald from University of Iceland. Timo introduced me to the arts in the Arctic and invited me to join networks connected to art education. Allyson started this journey with me and through the process she has developed into a friend and colleague. Through Allyson I found a place where scholars from different fields of sustainability work collectively. I want to thank all of those who supported me through the process of organising and researching different artistic actions for sustainability both in teacher education at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, and through art exhibitions. Laura Colucci-Gray and Glen Coutts joined my doctoral committee during the final study year and I was privileged to benefit from their expertise. Their critique, guidance and encouragement was very valuable and helped me to finish this process. Inga Jónsdóttir the museum director at Arnes Art Museum deserves a special tribute for her foresight in deciding that the concept of sustainability would be appropriate for the museum. Her trust when asking me to curate the exhibition Challenge in the museum was crucial in the process of developing my action efficacy. Feedback from examiners was useful, and I would like to thank Rita Irwin and Jeppe Laessøe for their well considered comments. This research would not have been possible without the student teachers at Iceland Academy of the Arts for without them I would not have done this research. In diverse ways they have participated in this study and have shaped me as both teacher and researcher. To all those students who attended my classes for the past eight years, you have touched me forever and I am expecting great things from you in the field of art education. I also thank the audiences of the various conference and seminar papers that I gave during the research process, as the feedback was very important. I would also like to thank my colleagues and my critical friends for their contributions. Their interpersonal skills including dialogue, listening and feedback were crucial for me. I would specially like to thank Ellen Gunnarsdóttir and Gunndís Ýr Finnbogadóttir, who have always been willing to give me their time, energy, and expertise, and I am richer for it. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my husband, Harald Aspelund who encouraged me, supported me and put up with me through the long process of writing this review.
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