Rachel Bennett, "Social Justice and the Power of Art at Lawrence Free State Festival 2016"

"Last week, Free State Festival brought visiting artists, great live music, compelling films, and important conversations to the Lawrence community. The Free State Festival is a week long celebration of art, music, ideas and films, which started as a film festival and grew into what it is today–a culmination of creativity and community. ...

The next event I was able to attend was the A(R/C)T: Art and Activism panel, which featured four local artists explaining how their art and their study of art is rooted in activism. We explored topics of immigration, indigenous appropriation and erasure, and gentrification.

Joshua Miner, an Assistant Professor of Film and Media Studies at KU, explored new media representations of indigenous populations. Miner showed examples of social media activism and video games that make a statement about the current problems of representation and erasure."

Read the full piece at KJHK.