About
What is the School of Good Citizenship?
The School of Good Citizenship by artists LigoranoReese is a public art work revolving around 5 key events in Charlotte this summer opening online with exhibitions and workshops at the Levine Museum and The Light Factory.
In the Fall, it concludes the first two weekends in October with Drive In film programs on immigration and climate justice organized with Wilmington, NC-based Working Films and a Civic Saturday sermon in conjunction with Citizen University at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte, depending, of course, on recommended public health guidelines.
The goal is to bring together a diverse audience through visual art, poetry readings, and site-specific installations for thoughtful, dynamic, participatory panels, workshops and cultural events on voter rights, immigration, and social justice.
Why Charlotte?
LigoranoReese were last in Charlotte at the 2012 Democratic Convention, when they installed a temporary sculpture of the words Middle Class carved in ice in Fourth Ward Park.
Turning to Charlotte in 2020, they realized that what’s going on in North Carolina was not just about representation and voting rights: it was part of a bigger story reflecting the aspirations and hopes of the city’s residents for a more just future. For almost an entire year, LigoranoReese met artists, art curators, public interest groups, and city historians in an attempt to get a sense of the cultural landscape of the city.
Though, the artists intended for the School to bookend the Republican Convention, the Coronavirus has forced them to revise their original plans to include online programming and public events later in the Fall, when and if it is safe to do so.
The School of Good Citizenship expands on LigoranoReese's decade long project Melted Away that foregrounds dialogue about local issues under the spotlights of a convention.
Melted Away
Melted Away began in 2008 with the installation of the word Democracy carved in ice at the Democratic and Republican Conventions. Since then, LigoranoReese has melted down the words Economy, The Future, and Truth among others, a total of 6 different words in 8 different cities.
“Neither of us thought we were embarking on an ongoing series 12 years ago," Ligorano says, "but witnessing the effects of our work, the way the public interacted and saw them has pushed us onward. It’s really inspiring.”
This artwork inspires people to talk about how what is happening in society affects their lives.
