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Brenna is a social practice artist, a form that actively engages the public through collaboration, social interaction, and dialogue. The aim of social practice is to shape a shared social environment, where the viewer's experience becomes the essence of the artwork. Brenna works in mixed media to create paintings, photos, and writing that draw from her research in human development, social justice, and auto-ethnographic processing. In schools and home settings, she designs play-based, inquiry focused, and Reggio Emilia-inspired spaces that encourage safe risks for early learners.
Humans learn from those they trust in spaces that feel safe and containing. Within the context of a post-covid its particular important to investigate our needs and the needs of children. We must adapt and meet the moment. My practice of whole body listening arose out of years of classroom experience and community work within varied settings from camps to museums and is informed by the Mosiac Approach by Allison Clark, the Reggio Emilia philosophy, and the pedological research of Maxine Greene, Linda Knight, and Bell Hooks. As a social practice artist I have dedicated my career to making art meaningful and accessible to anyone interesting in making. I work with all ages from birth through adulthood. No matter the population I am engaging here are three things you will hear me saying: "teamwork makes the dream work," "I made a mistake, I'm sorry, lets try again together," and "I hear you. Tell me more." I use art as a tool for nurturing healthy communication, building self awareness, and managing the social/emotional demands that are inherent in being human. Often, we fall into the trap of looking to who we want to be or who we want our children, students, partners, or coworkers to be (rather than looking and listening to the individual in front of us or the self staring us back in the mirror). Focusing on the product rather than the process runs the risk creating an inauthentic and potentially frustrating learning environments, or communities where stakeholders feel unheard or unseen. |