Our Mission

art: na hyesok

Our History

The GAC was originally formulated under the name Arts through the Ages in autumn of 2022 by three Northern Virginian freshmen as a response to the utter lack of cultural art history representation in our non-secondary school system. During that time, we held fundraisers and researched the issues we feel are relevant, exposing ourselves to areas of art history that were previously concealed.

After careful consideration, we decided to refashion our structures and ideas starting in early 2023, shifting focus to accessibility of non-Eurocentric art history resources to the general youth in order to reach a wider audience of like-minded people.

About our name

Gliese 581 is a system 20.5 light years away from Earth, located in the Libra constellation, the 101st closest star system to our Sun. The name comes from the Gliese Catalogue of Nearby Stars, a 1957 magazine. Several searches for extraterrestrial life have been conducted; 501 human messages are expected to reach the system in 2029.

We named our organization after this mysterious system, to honor art itself, framing it as not an Earth-bound, but a universal concept: a language we are all born with and live to share.

Where we're going

The Collective's goals are to:
1. Consolidate knowledge and encourage dialogue on radical movements and their art
2. Create educational resources to promote the significance of art history
3. Distribute knowledge and resources that have been previously inaccessible
4. Hold both in-person and online events on artistic liberation in order to foster youth community discourse of art in the frame of current events
5. Decolonize, revolutionize, acknowledge, and grow as a community

Solidarity in radicalism

The Collective does not just believe that art is a medium for radical action, but that art and radical action are intrinsically connected in their respective histories and usages. In the modern day of worldwide turmoil, art is used as a simultaneous means of quietness and loudness, making it all the more powerful– radical art can shout passionately in ways that change the world.

Education

The Collective believes that art education and the discourse around radicalism is essential to understanding events in the modern age. Art has impacted and continues to affect many spheres of life. This is why we strive for accessibility to knowledge and resources for young people as it promotes critical thinking, the questioning of authority and seeking change outside institutional structures. We aim to deconstruct the teacher-student dichotomy, as both can learn from each other. No one should have to ask permission for an education, and the Collective seeks to close the gap in learning about art.

The future

The Collective values future-thinking mindsets, envisioning future generations of art through a historical lens. There is no way to create a future without knowing the history of it.