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Rui(N)Ation: Narratives Of Art And Urban Revitalization In Detroit, Jessica Ks Cappuccitti

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation considers the City of Detroit as a case study for analyzing the complex role that artists and art institutions are playing in the potential re-growth and revitalization of the city. I specifically look at artists and arts organizations who are working against the popular narrative of Detroit as “ruin city.” Their efforts create counter narratives that emphasize stories of survival and showcase vibrant communities. By focussing on artist-led and institutional initiatives, I emphasize the importance of art in both community and narrative-building.

This research has taken the form of a written dissertation and two adapted projects, and positions …

Faces Of (And For) Toronto: Community-Engaged Portrait Projects In The Neoliberal City, Jennifer E. Orpana

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This dissertation investigates how community-engaged photographic portrait projects variously support and challenge neoliberalism in Toronto. It examines how photographic portraiture is used to constitute communities that are simultaneously the public face of the diversity of the city and the targets of neoliberal rationality, policies, and procedures that further marginalize these groups. This research investigates how portrait projects variably demonstrate the intensified inequality of neoliberalism, while, at the same time, their focus on identity and community sometimes obscures the systemic causes of exclusion in the city. Chapter 1 considers how Pierre Maraval’s Mille Femmes (2008) and Dan Bergeron’s Regent Park Portraits …