The Power of Buttons
Thursday, April 18, 2024
3:30–5:30 pm
COCA’s Gold Design and Art Studio, 6880 Washington Ave., University City, MO 63130
Learn about the power of buttons in history and social movements, share your stories, meet local advocates and educators and make your own buttons! Snacks and supplies provided; all ages and generations welcome.
RSVPs appreciated
This spring, the Washington University Center for the Humanities will participate as one of nine sites throughout the U.S. in the National Humanities Center’s first-annual “Being Human” festival. The new community-focused lineup of events, taking place April 15–26, 2024, is aimed at highlighting the ways that the humanities add depth and meaning to our lives, help us understand ourselves and one another, and provide context for the complex world around us.
The humanities center won support for the proposal “The Power of Buttons.” Participants will design and create their own buttons in this community workshop while exploring the history and significance of pin-back buttons as tools of personal expression and political persuasion that have been used to stimulate change and express sentiments from the whimsical to the profound. The event will take place April 2024 (date and location details forthcoming).
The program is a collaboration of the Center for the Humanities — with center director Stephanie Kirk, PhD, professor of Spanish, comparative literature, and women, gender and sexuality Studies; Laura Perry, PhD, assistant director of research and public engagement; and Meredith Kelling, PhD, assistant director for student research and engagement, partipating — and CJ Mitchell, a local arts educator most recently with Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis.
WashU faculty, staff and students who would like to get involved or learn more are very welcome to contact Meredith Kelling or Laura Perry.
Headline image by S.A. via Flicker CC BY-NC 2.0 DEED.
