Dissertation
An arts-based phenomenological inquiry into the lived experiences of 2020/2021 Twin Cities Black Lives Matter activist artists
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Drexel University
Aug 2026
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17918/00011566
Abstract
Activist artmaking is a global artistic practice that involves creating artwork pertaining to societal issues with the goal of raising critical consciousness by illustrating injustice and calling for change in the service of collective liberation. Although art therapists aim to support individuals and communities through artmaking, this artistic practice is underexamined in the art therapy literature. This dissertation sought to help fill that gap as it describes an arts-based phenomenological inquiry into the lived experiences of 2020/2021 Twin Cities (Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota) Black Lives Matter (BLM) activist artists. The dissertation aimed to learn about artists' experiences creating this artwork to inform recommendations for art therapists supporting individuals and communities through activist artmaking in times of collective trauma and social crisis. Chapter 1 of this dissertation is the project's proposal, originally written in 2024 and updated for this document. This chapter outlines my personal connection to the dissertation as well as my philosophical positioning, which determined how I conceptualized and designed the dissertation. This chapter also outlines a broad review of the literature I conducted to situate this dissertation amidst relevant scholarship. The proposed dissertation's aims, significance, and innovation are then described. The chapter closes by discussing the project's methodology (arts-based phenomenology). Throughout the development of this dissertation, much of the content outlined in Chapter 1 remained relevant, but certain aspects of the project evolved over the subsequent chapters. Each subsequent chapter represents inquiry and learnings found in the process of conducting this dissertation. Chapter 2 provides a description of how the study proposed in Chapter 1 was conducted as well as findings from this arts-based phenomenological inquiry into the lived experiences of 2020/21 Twin Cities BLM activist artists. Findings indicated that the 2020/21 Twin Cities BLM activist artmaking provided artists and their communities with psychosocial benefits. Findings also described the complex and challenging tensions artists experienced in creating their activist artwork. Chapter 2 concludes with recommendations for art therapists considering integrating activist artmaking into their clinical practice and for future research on the psychological impacts of activist artmaking. Chapter 3 describes an autoethnographic examination of the response art I created throughout the dissertation. A narrative synthesis of the response art revealed that this artistic practice helped me to confront and manage anxieties about making mistakes related to my whiteness, cope with painful sociopolitical happenings occurring at the time of this dissertation, and develop insight into my research process. This chapter closes by describing how response art can be a reflexive practice for qualitative researchers to express and process their activated emotions and biases, cope with difficult emotional content, and develop a deeper understanding of the research process. Chapter 4 describes how findings from this dissertation will be artistically shared with the public. It outlines and explores a novel conceptual framework called the Therapeutic Artistic Sharing of Knowledge (TASK) model that is aligned with tenets of arts-based research and psychologies of liberation. The chapter provides a theoretical discussion about how socially engaged art therapy research shared with the public through the TASK model might provide therapeutic arts engagement opportunities for research participants/community collaborators. It then describes how this model will inform the future artistic sharing of this dissertation's findings with the public. Chapter 5 closes the dissertation with an integrative discussion. It provides an overall analysis of the dissertation, findings from each chapter, and key contributions to the field of art therapy. It defines and discusses relevant concepts such as protest art, cultural resistance, constructive resistance, performative outrage, and social action art therapy. It summarizes conclusions, highlights limitations, and describes suggestions for future research on the psychological impact of activist artmaking. In sum, this dissertation provides insight into the psychological experience of creating 2020/21 Twin Cities BLM activist art. It contributes to the art therapy discourse on the intersection of art therapy and activism, offers a reflexive arts practice for qualitative researchers, and describes a framework for collaboratively sharing socially engaged art therapy research with the public.
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Details
- Title
- An arts-based phenomenological inquiry into the lived experiences of 2020/2021 Twin Cities Black Lives Matter activist artists
- Creators
- Kristyn S. Stickley
- Contributors
- Girija Kaimal (Advisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Drexel University
- Degree Awarded
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
- Publisher
- Drexel University
- Number of pages
- xv, 191 pages
- Resource Type
- Dissertation
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Creative Arts Therapies; College of Nursing and Health Professions; Drexel University
- Other Identifier
- 991022208946404721