Dr. Jonathan Shirland believes art is more than something to hang on the wall. It can be a tool to build bridges among diverse people who share a common vision.
An assistant professor of art history, Dr. Shirland has been putting that philosophy into practice for nearly a decade as one of the leaders of an innovative project that seeks to promote and showcase creative works based on the themes of confronting, protesting, and seeking alternatives to violence.
Begun in 2007 as an initiative of the Cambridge Health Alliance’s Victims of Violence program, “Violence Transformed” is an annual series of exhibitions and performances hosted by venues throughout Greater Boston. Each April during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, the collaborative exhibit held at the Massachusetts State House.
Dr. Shirland serves as lead curator and key organizer of the State House event, which enjoys the support of the Massachusetts Office of Victim Assistance and the participation of artists throughout New England. He has also assisted with many of the other exhibits.
“Violence Transformed” draws upon new and existing works by mature and emerging artists as well as by individuals of all ages experimenting with art for the first time. Next year will mark a decade of the nonprofit initiative, bringing special exhibits and the launch of a project to publish a catalogue of essays and exemplary works.
“We put on a series of events that celebrate the transformative power of art to engage issues of violence in all its forms,” said Dr. Shirland, adding that the diverse art works, which range from paintings to murals, quilts, performance art, and video installations, serve as “powerful images of resiliency and recovery and also provide ways of imagining alternatives to violence.”
Dr. Shirland, a Brookline resident who has taught art history at BSU since 2008, said that in addition to spurring people to reflect on violence, the project aims to “build bridges between the diverse groups engaged in the issue.”
Participants in “Violence Transformed” have ranged from studio artists, academics, and museum curators to social workers, art therapists, victims rights advocates, youth workers, and social activists.
“What we all have in common is a commitment to the idea that the arts can really make life more wholesome and that by focusing on that we can have an impact,” said Edmund Barry Gaither, the director of the Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, in Roxbury, and a founding member of “Violence Transformed.”
Art can offer alternative ways for people to deal with violence, as well.
“Issues connected to the experience of shock and trauma can be very difficult to express verbally or through the written word. Sometimes they are more profoundly expressed through visual media or performing arts,” Dr. Shirland said.
One notable exhibit featured varied artistic works created by Combat Paper, a group of veterans using paper they created from their military uniforms. Another, by the Sudanese-born artist, Khalid Kodi, consists of painted clothing articles inspired by the story of a high school teacher who became mute when her family was killed by the janjaweed militia in Darfur.
Dr. Shirland grew up in the English city of Canterbury, earning his bachelor’s degree at York University, and his master’s and doctorate degrees from the University College in London.
After graduation, he worked as a curator of public programs at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. He said the academy’s annual juried art show – open to professionals and amateurs – inspired his later interest in “trying to bring together different voices” in art.
In 2007, Dr. Shirland and his wife, Maggie, relocated to her native Massachusetts. After a year teaching at Lassell College, he joined the BSU faculty.
Not long after his arrival in the Boston area, Dr. Shirland was recruited by Dr. Mary Harvey, founding director of the Victim of Violence Program, to assist with an exhibition of works by three printmakers on the subject of violence. The resulting exhibit at the statehouse became the maiden event of “Violence Transformed,” for which Harvey serves as director.
The program has expanded over the years to include events at Northeastern University, Harvard’s Guttman Library, Wheelock College, Cambridge College, School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and Roxbury Community College. Other venues include Harriet Tubman House of the United Sound End Settlements, Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists, the Urbano Project in Jamaica Plain, Lesley University, and Copley Mall Plaza.
Dr. Shirland, who also leads an annual art-oriented trip for BSU students to Tanzania, said he appreciates the university’s willingness to allow faculty to incorporate a broad array of interests into their teaching and research.
The anti-violence project dovetails with Dr. Shirland’s work at BSU, where he incorporates the topic as a theme in his courses. He has also been able to involve his students in setting up and taking down exhibits, giving them a taste of curating and the art world.
He said he also values the chance to bring thought-provoking art to prominent public spaces such as the statehouse.
“We are showing works in places where the audience is dramatically diverse,” he said. “It’s really interesting to see people’s reaction to it.”
Dr. Shirland gets additional satisfaction from giving exposure to the creative work of people who have been personally affected by violence – including young people and war veterans.
“I admire their resilience and courage,” he said.
