Mary Jane Jacobs Lecture

"Art in the piblic insterest is activist and communitarian in spirit; its modes of expression encompass a variety of traditional media, including painting and sculpture, as well as untraditional media" (105).

By bringing art to the streets, Mary Jane Jacobs has transformed many people's ideals of what constitutes as art. As she explained in her lecture, primarily about South Carolina, sites in the communities become the art projects. Often times, people from the community are involved. For example, she mentioned the two white houses in South Carolina. One was turned into a museamesque portryal of the history of fashion. Outside of the home, the owners created a fashion show. This also brought up South Carolina's strong historical ties with slavery. Clothing warn in the fashion show and displayed in the house, was often clothing from this era. This forced conversation about slavery.

Althought I did not find Jacobs' speech particularly interesting, some of the art projects that she glanced over were remarkable. The house that was painted army style was one of these projects. It created public interest and communication. It also used a traditional form of art to create an unconventional piece of art. The artist simply painted a house. The fantastical colors and pattern are what make it unconventional and spark conversation. Jacobs is succeeding in her goalfor art to become a more public medium and allow people to get involved and talk about her art.