Family Photos: Digital photography as Emancipatory Art Education in Montreal’s Black Community Rosalind Hampton A Thesis in The Department of Art Education Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts (Art Education) at Concordia University Montreal, Quebec, Canada June 2011 © Rosalind Hampton CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY School of Graduate Studies This is to certify that the thesis prepared By: Rosalind Hampton Entitled: Family Photos: Digital Photography as Emancipatory Art Education in Montreal’s Black Community and submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Art Education complies with the regulations of the University and meets the accepted standards with respect to originality and quality. Signed by the final examining committee: Dr. Linda Szabad-Smyth Chair Dr. David Pariser Examiner Dr. Anita Sinner Examiner Dr. Linda Szabad-Smyth Supervisor Approved by Dr. Linda Szabad-Smyth Chair of Department of Graduate Program Director Dean Catherine Wild Dean of Faculty Date 05 July 2011 ABSTRACT Family Photos: Digital photography as Emancipatory Art Education in Montreal’s Black Community Rosalind Hampton This thesis documents a participatory action research project in which I collaborated with a Caribbean-Canadian family of four, to study their experiences of familial art education and photographic practice, and to generate recommendations for Emancipatory Art Education in Montreal’s Black community. Emancipatory Art Education (EAE) is an emerging approach to Black community art education that I situate among African Diaspora traditions of ‘education for liberation’ and critical multiculturalism discourses in the field of art education. Family Photos begins a long-term participatory research practice aimed at defining and developing EAE theory and practices for the community from within the community. An autoethnographic study through which I locate and situate my identities as a Black Montrealer consequently emerges as a critical component of this work. Through studying and practicing photography as art, family members develop technical skills and inclusive understandings of art, while increasingly expressing their own individual and collective aesthetic identities. All express affirmative feelings about the project and a desire to participate in similar projects in the future, and thus conclude that iii family art practice can be a positive and engaging practice for other families and members in the Black community. Our results emphasize photographic practice as a site for exploring issues of identity, race and representation, and tensions between the private and the public. Recommendations are geared toward EAE and address familial and intergenerational community art education; photography, ethics and boundary control; and participatory action research in community art education. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I give thanks, and recognize my parents and all those who have come before me, who have made me and whatever I might accomplish possible. This thesis could not have been achieved without the hard work and commitment of my beloved friends and co-researchers Clippings, Akiva dii T’Chaa, Kanisha Prima Donna, and J-Money. I am deeply thankful for the valuable art, ideas, and overall knowledge you have contributed to this thesis. I am forever grateful to Christopher Cañez, my honey and best friend, for helping me to pursue graduate studies and for being a great partner who knows and loves the day-to-day me better than anybody. Love and thanks also to my sister Margot Hampton, for her support and encouragement; and to my beloved son, Tyson Hampton-Skobin, who is a great inspiration to me and who I hope to inspire to pursue his life ambitions. I would also like to acknowledge David Austin, my friend (brother, really) and colleague (comrade, really) who convinced me I could do this thing; and Elizabeth Saccá, for her audacious inclusivity and early mentorship. Finally, my sincere appreciation goes to my thesis advisor Linda Szabad-Smyth, and to professors David Pariser, Anita Sinner, and Kathleen Vaughan. I thank you all for believing in my work and for teaching me invaluable lessons about art, education and about being a scholar. v DEDICATION For Mamie and Judes. For Montreal’s Black community and its many diverse artists— past, present and future. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................................x INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................................… 1 Research Question ...................................................................................................2 CHAPTER 1: SITUATING THE STUDY ...................................................................................4 Montreal’s Black Community..................................................................................4 Emancipatory Art Education ...................................................................................7 CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY............................................................................................14 Participatory Action Research ...............................................................................15 Photography-based Methods..................................................................................17 Autoethnography....................................................................................................20 Research Process....................................................................................................23 Data Collection......................................................................................................26 CHAPTER 3: DISCUSSION OF RESULTS..............................................................................28 Interviews...............................................................................................................29 Photographs............................................................................................................33 Family Photos: The Art and the Artists .................................................................34 Clippings...................................................................................................35 Akiva dii T’chaa ........................................................................................45 vii Kanisha Prima Donna ................................................................................52 J-Money .....................................................................................................62 family album: a Southern Auto-Genealogy............................................................69 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH ANALYSIS ...................................................................................80 Cross-Case Analysis..............................................................................................81 Artistic Process and Aesthetic Identity......................................................81 Dominant Subject Matter and Themes ......................................................84 Approach to Photography ..........................................................................89 Family Photos and family album as Emancipatory Art Education........................93 Photography and Black Families ...............................................................93 Critical Multiculturalism in Art Education................................................96 Cultural Work and Reflexivity...................................................................99 CHAPTER 5: ASSESSMENT & IMPLICATIONS OF STUDY.................................................103 Validity of research..............................................................................................103 Barndt’s Areas of Tension for PAR and Community Art to Engage ..................................................................................................................103 Herr and Anderson’s Validity Criteria.....................................................108 Recommendations & Questions for Further Research.........................................113 Familial and Intergenerational Community Art Education .....................113 Photography, Ethics and Boundary Control ............................................114 Participatory Action Research in Community Art Education..................117 viii REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................120 APPENDICES A. Consent forms ......................................................................................................133 B. Work schedule .....................................................................................................145 C. Ethical concerns (handout/ framework for dialogue) ..........................................146 D. Tips for taking pictures (handout/ framework for dialogue) ...............................147 E. Framework for discussing photographs...............................................................149 F. Clippings’ photovoice (digital catalogue).......................................................disc 1* G. Family photos: Picturing ourselves (digital catalogue)................................... disc 1 * Please note that the print copy of this thesis provides Appendices F and G on a CD (disc 1), while the electronic version of this thesis