A People's Art History of the United States: 250 Years of Activist Art and Artists Working in Social Justice Movements

by Nicolas Lampert

Most people outside of the art world view art as something that is foreign to their experiences and everyday lives. A People's Art History of the United States places art history squarely in the rough-and-tumble of politics, social struggles, and the fight for justice from the colonial era through the present day.

Author and radical artist Nicolas Lampert combines historical sweep with detailed examinations of individual artists and works in a politically charged narrative that spans the conquest of the Americas, the American Revolution, slavery and abolition, western expansion, the suffragette movement and feminism, civil rights movements, environmental movements, LGBT movements, antiglobalization movements, contemporary antiwar movements, and beyond.

A People's Art History of the United States introduces us to key works of American radical art alongside dramatic retellings of the histories that inspired them. Stylishly illustrated with over two hundred images, this book is nothing less than an alternative education for anyone interested in the powerful role that art plays in our society.

Genres: Art, History, Nonfiction, Politics, Art History, Activism, Cultural

384 pages, Hardcover

First published August 28, 2012

About the author

Nicolas Lampert is a Milwaukee-based interdisciplinary artist and author whose work focuses on themes of social justice and ecology. His first book A People’s Art History of the United States: 250 Years of Activist Art and Artists Working in Social Justice Movements was published by The New Press in 2013 and is part of the People’s History Series edited by Howard Zinn. His artwork is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the Library of Congress, and over sixty archives and special collections across the world. Collectively, he works with the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative - a worker-owned printmaking cooperative of over forty artists in North America that formed in 2007. He also works with the Art Build Workers - a group of seven artists, designers, photographers and educators who are based in Milwaukee and who work locally and travel around the country organizing multi-day art builds that help unions, organizations and movements amplify their messages through visual art, media, and archiving. Lampert also collaborates with Voces de los Artistas - an art-affinity group established in 2016 that works in collaboration with Voces de la Frontera - an immigrant rights organization based in Wisconsin. Lampert is a full-time faculty member (academic staff appointment) in the Writing and Critical Thinking area in the Department of Art and Design at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Reviews

[Justher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Midway through the preface of this book, I realized that this was a book I needed in my life during my high school history classes. To talk about the United States without talking about resistance leaves out the very spirit of the American people. To talk about resistance without talking about art is a disservice to the transformative power of visual display. Lampert selects art from various time periods in a way that is not meant to be exhaustive, but instead to spark discussion and inspiration. I appreciated how he attempts to take a critical look at the artists themselves, noting the troubling racial beliefs held Jacob A. Riis and white women suffragists. This book is an excellent starting point for all those interested in the role of activist art in the United States.

[Giovanni García-Fenech · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't really a history, but rather a string of case studies, and they might not all qualify as art, but rather as creative actions, but it's still fascinating and very inspiring. I learned a lot!

[Mills College Library]

701.03097 L237 2013

[Mel Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting, insightful and inspiring. This was an excellent compilation of the backstories of historical accounts and movements, focusing on the role of art in directing/impacting the course of events.

It has my mind thinking about the enduring and far-reaching effects of art to bring about positive change. For example I felt like I stepped into a contemporary chapter of this book while visiting an art gallery in Bandon, OR called Washed Ashore (http://washedashore.org/) which deals with the problem of plastic debris in our oceans.

Like Solnit's Hope in the Dark, we need to hear these stories to remind ourselves that (contrary to the dominant messaging) we can make a difference in this world.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a book to sit and read. Rather it is a good reference for when you want to know about various artists' responses to their current situations. Some that are presented are well known, others less so.

[Art · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good concept. Too radical for me. Constant struggling protests. As a thirty-five dollar art history book, some of the black-and-white illustrations and photographs here need to appear in color.

Native American art introduces the first of twenty-nine discrete chapters. In 1933, President Roosevelt led government-funded public art that ran through 1943, from the depths of The Great Depression to early World War II, which provided work for many artists during that difficult period. The Works Projects Administration-Federal Art Project included writers, visual artists, sculptors, theater and music. Murals appeared everywhere in post offices and high schools. Everyone was exposed to art, artists and artmaking. And that was the most engaging ten-page chapter in the book.

I was a kid in school during the civil rights movement. Bob Dylan appears here in a 1963 photo, singing to a few people on a porch behind the Mississippi office of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Later, I became involved with Veterans Against the War. But it was Earth Day that changed me forever. The event forced me to rethink everything, including resources, energy, food, transportation and the low impact of conscious living on a small footprint. Yet, not a word or image of Earth Day or green movements made it in this book, which takes a too-narrow view of social justice movements.

Many people earned recognition in the acknowledgments, including a dozen Milwaukeeans, where the author teaches in the art and design department of UWM. So it's surprising that not one Milwaukee or Wisconsin event in 250 years appears in the book.

Art historians would know where to find artworks inspired by such Milwaukee events as these: Bay View strikes that led to the eight-hour day, the Milwaukee 14 peace activists who raided the selective service in 1968 to burn ten thousand draft files; the long string of socialist mayors early in the twentieth century. Milwaukee also played a major role developing and nourishing the underground press and comix during the late sixties, which, by definition, included plenty of activist artwork.

As a book published in 2013 by a Wisconsin artist who focuses on social issues, it missed the massive demonstrations a few years ago in Madison after the new governor eliminated collective bargaining for public workers. For example, thousands of people carried homemade posters, ranging from artful, funny, clever to caustic. And therein lies an untold story, book or gallery show of these ephemeral pieces, expressing immediate and visceral concerns.

One and a half stars. Forty pages of notes. This may serve as a good overview of the arts in social justice movements. Political and radical readers may enjoy this book more than I did.

[Cm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A People’s Art History of the United States is a series of illustrated essays about artists’ participation in social movements. I am sick the past few days and am finding the book surprisingly addictive; unlike most series of essays it is hard to put down. As a college art instructor I am already thinking about ways the book could apply to my classes. It will get art students engaged in history and provide numerous paths to think about how their work can be part of movements. It seems highly teachable to high school and college students, and applicable to history, art, and cultural studies classes.

The book highlights compelling examples of art playing a complicated, multifaceted, or visionary role in activism and history. For example, one chapter looks at the Paterson Strike, and analyzes how the IWW and a bohemian NYC subculture sided with the silk workers on strike. There is a theatre performance in New York City about the Paterson, New Jersey strike, with strikers as the cast, during the actual strike. By no means a success, this idea of creating theatre or performance about a real life event while it is happening is bold, risky, and inspiring.

[William Reichard · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's difficult not to think of Howard Zinn's groundbreaking "A People's History of the United States" when opening this book. This is part of a series of alternative history texts based on Zinn's model, and released by the same publisher. What I expected from the book, at the start, was the same kind of macro view that Zinn offers, a sense of the massive scope and alternative narratives that must be included when constructing a more accurate and inclusive history of this nation. What I found, however, was a series of chapters focusing on a handful of specific examples of an alternative art history of the U.S. Each chapter, each example, was fascinating, and I learned a great deal, but in terms of how we might see an alternative art history of the U.S., a narrative that runs counter to any "official" narrative, I was disappointed. I wanted the sense of the big picture I found in Zinn's history, and instead found a series of micro narratives that change the way I see specific episodes in the cultural landscape of the U.S. The title promises more than the book delivers.

[Josiah Blevins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wide-ranging look at the places where traditional art practices have met with history and the struggles of normal people against capital, state power, and other oppressive forces. This is a very eye-opening look at the relationship between art and the struggle for a more just reality. Rather than trying to justify the presence of art within social/political movements, the author includes instances where the artwork tried and failed to help– knowing this history feels crucial for any artist hoping to help

Organized chronologically, each chapter moves forward in time form the beginning of the USA all the way into this century. Some highlights of the art practices covered range from: early precursors to movies to help abolish slavery, performance art/interventions supporting labor rights, photography in service of the civil rights movement, illustrations supporting the Black Panther Party, public art to help fix environmental issues, and

[William Crosby · Rating 1 out of 5]

The focus is on activists and political art, so if you are looking for an interpretation of U.S. art from a cultural and art techniques point of view, look elsewhere. Too many words, not enough art. And the art is primarily photographs and posters.

I also found the writing dogmatic. The historical accounts were laden with many value judgments (the word "unjust" was used often). I was hoping for more on the alternative (perhaps true) history and less on the judgmental attitude which was constant throughout.

The chapters did not seem to be related to each other so that there was no continuity. There was no cohesive narrative flow.

About 1/3 into the book I finally got tired of the tedious denunciations and returned the book to the library.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book! There was quite a bit of this that was new to me. Even the bits that I knew about were covered in more depth than I'd previously encountered. I'd never even heard of Mine Okubo before. I'll have to see if I can find a copy of her book about life in the resettlement camps. The more recent events were more interesting to me, being from my time and all. I even recall reading about the flap over Gran Fury's "Kissing Doesn't Kill" ads back in the day. The final four chapters were, I think, my favorites, particularly the "Living Water" one. If you're interested in art and/or the history of social justice movements in the USA, this is definitely a book worth checking out.

[Caitlin Goldblatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This definitely glosses in certain places; however, Lampert generally provides a concise, earnestly-rendered history of not only objects and their usage throughout history, but of conflicting and parallel atmosphere(s) in various times and places. Excellent discussions of silencing that mostly, despite the aforementioned occasional glossing, rise to the tall order of serving completionist historical analyses.

[Rachel Wexelbaum · Rating 5 out of 5]

The history of people's art in the United States, according to Lampert, begins with wampum. Go with it and go from there. I learned a lot of things about American history that they never teach you in school--all from art. I was surprised that Facebook memes were not included in Lampert's definition of people's art in the United States, but American military performance art pieces were. Oh well. If you read up to the 1990s you will be fine.

[Roberta Morris · Rating 5 out of 5]

My wonderfully insightful son-in-law knew this was the perfect Christmas present for me. I nearly skipped out on their Christmas dinner, so caught up with this art history/American history book of incredible scope. This is both amazing social history and real appreciation for artworks and artists for all that they bring to the world, not merely messaging but astonishing beauty, humor and love.

[David Melbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice. Art as activism. Expertly done by Nicolas Lampert.

[Vi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light read, skips a lot.

[Sura]

While this book is interesting it define art objects by describing their historical usage not their aesthetics. I made no judgement yet.