Building Community through Visual Arts: an Alabama Story

This talk takes a searching look at contemporary visual art and the role it plays in our society. How do the arts facilitate challenging conversations and enrich public discourse? How can visual arts contribute to community building and civic pride? How do arts affect social change? Training our attention on Alabama art history and local artists and initiatives, this talk shows the impact that contemporary art can have locally and nationally and its ability to change lives.

John Fields is the Lydia Cheney and Jim Sokol Endowed Director of AEIVA (Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Fields is a visual artist, musician, writer, filmmaker, public speaker, podcast host, and university educator with over 20 years of experience teaching visual art at the university level and working in various museum and university roles. He has curated or co-curated 80+ exhibitions throughout his career, many of which have been featured in numerous national and regional media outlets such as The New York Times, The Nation, PBS, Forbes, and WBHM, among others.