The Journal of Cultural Research in Art Education calls for written manuscripts (empirical research, narratives, and/or field studies) and visual submissions (graphic novels, photo essays, videos, or interactive art pieces) that:
Over 80% of members in the National Art Education Association (NAEA) are White. With such overwhelmingly White representation in the art education field, it is critical that we more intently examine the ways in which Whiteness has and continues to construct certain epistemologies and methodologies in art education. In November 2017, the 2nd annual Art Education Research Institute (AERI) conference offered a panel titled, “Race and Racism in 21 Century Art Education” on the campus of Northern Illinois University, Naperville. The panelists, Joni Boyd Acuff, Michelle Bae-Dimitriadis, Stephen B Carpenter, ii, Amelia “Amy” Kraehe, and Vanessa Lopez, offered an honest, yet starkly frank assessment of the art education field in regards to advancing racially just and racially conscious practices in art education classrooms and research. Some of the conclusions the panelists made included: Race has never been perceived as a central structure within the field of art education, thus, the field’s lack of advancement in the problem of White supremacy; art educators of color are mentally and emotionally exhausted from doing race work, and White art educators need to more critically and intentionally engage in race work; the White supremacist structures in art education are a White problem best solved by White people. Freire’s (1970) seminal work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, asserts a similar claim--the weight and responsibility to resolve oppression should rest on the back of the oppressor. This call for papers considers these assertions and beckons a close look at Whiteness as it relates to racial inequity in art education.