MATTERS: Laying Groundwork for Creative Practice Rooted in Ecological and Social Awareness, Repair, and Care

MATTERS is a site-focused arts education program connecting art and design learners to materials and materials to land and labor. The objective of MATTERS is to lay the groundwork for a creative practice rooted in ecological and social awareness, repair, and care. The programming abides by democratic standards of co-creation, collaboration, and working toward the common good by uncovering and solving crucial problems in creative industries today. MATTERS works with existing secondary and higher education arts and design schools and programs. For art and design education in higher education/high school in the US, democratic education means engaging ethically with structures of ecology and labor that surround creative practice and material usage.