5 minutes

Art and Visual Culture

Turn art and visual culture into a more respectful, usable decision.

What you’ll be able to do

Adapt communication and participation while preserving individual variation and choice.
Compare the responses to this question and explain your choice: What keeps the learning useful instead of turning it into a stereotype?
Draft a short message people can follow: African American for your work, including [00:00] opening, [00:08] on-screen text, [00:15] captions.

Art and Visual Culture

Harlem Renaissance visual artists — Aaron Douglas, Augusta Savage, Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden. Civil Rights era — Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, Norman Lewis. Contemporary — Kara Walker, Kehinde Wiley, Amy Sherald, Mickalene Thomas, Mark Bradford, Theaster Gates, Hank Willis Thomas, Glenn Ligon, Carrie Mae Weems, LaToya Ruby Frazier, Kerry James Marshall.

Film — Spike Lee, Ava DuVernay, Barry Jenkins, Jordan Peele, Ryan Coogler, Lena Waithe. Television — Issa Rae, Donald Glover, Shonda Rhimes.

You are a guest. Pay. A festival is not consultation. A design is not a logo for the department. Penumbra Theatre in St. Paul is a major Black theater.

Put art and visual culture to work

What you can change

You control whether art and visual culture is treated as a question to explore or a label placed on someone.

What to watch for

Penumbra in St. Paul is a Minnesota institution. Guest, not researcher.

Your next step

Use this evidence as a hypothesis in your next plan, then confirm the relevant detail with the person or the community partner you named.

Practical cards

Art and Visual Culture

Real example: Harlem Renaissance visual artists — Aaron Douglas, Augusta Savage, Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden. Civil Rights era — Charles White, Elizabeth Catlett, Norman Lewis. Contemporary — Kara Walker, Kehinde Wiley…

Leader action: Penumbra in St. Paul is a Minnesota institution. Guest, not researcher.

I do not need a cultural performance from a professional. I need the process to make room for my name, my people, my questions, and the way I actually need to participate.
Composite public perspective — illustrative · African American Minnesota · Language, culture, and variation

A short message people can follow: African American

Captions are part of the message, not a transcript added after the fact. The spoken words, on-screen text, speaker changes, and meaningful sounds all belong.

[00:00] Opening We are here to explain the service change and what it means for African American Minnesota.

[00:08] On-screen text What is changing · Who is affected · How to ask a question

[00:15] Captions Captions identify speakers when needed and include meaningful sounds. Names are spelled correctly.

[00:32] Access path The same information is available in a tagged document and plain-language flyer.

Transcript The full transcript is posted beside the video; it is not hidden behind an inaccessible player.

Watch without sound and read only the captions. If the meaning is incomplete, the public-facing work is incomplete.

Browse and download only. Staff notes are not typed or saved on this page.

Try a situation

A teammate reads the language, culture, and variation section as a checklist and wants to apply it to every person who appears to belong to African American Minnesota.

What keeps the learning useful instead of turning it into a stereotype?

Use the brief as the answer so the team can move quickly.

Use the brief as a hypothesis, then ask the person what fits and what they need.

Avoid the topic entirely so nobody risks saying the wrong thing.

Carry this forward

Art and Visual Culture provide context to test, not a label to assign.
The person, household, Nation, or named community partner remains the authority on what fits.
Penumbra in St. Paul is a Minnesota institution. Guest, not researcher.

Completion is shown by a scenario decision, review of a practical artifact, and a saved one-minute commitment.

Use Art and Visual Culture as a hypothesis in one live plan; verify the relevant detail with the affected person or a named community partner, then record the change, owner, review date, and report-back.

Your next step

What will you do differently this week after studying language, culture, and variation?

Name the person or household's stated need before selecting a cultural assumption

Make one process default more usable and assign a clear owner for follow-up

Write the next action, the date, and how you will report back

Browse and download only. Course notes are not typed or saved on this page.

Mark this lesson complete

Participation and course completion in this program do not count toward DHS-required training credits unless management, a director, or DHS leadership expressly approves an exception.