There’s Trauma in Texas: Centering Connection and Conversations through Artworks
by Olivia Spiers, Outreach and Educational Programming Coordinator at The Art Galleries (TAG) at Austin Community College
Keywords: Trauma-aware, Texas art museums, Civic discourse, Healing
Trauma exists everywhere. However, in recent years, many Texans have seen exponential levels of hardship. Some of this adversity is partly due to state legislative decisions, which have caused division and dysregulation amongst many citizens, especially for teachers and students in Texas educational spaces. Many educators are finding it increasingly difficult to balance between truly inclusive and state-approved lesson plans. Additionally, educators are noticing that these legislative changes are sparking deep, difficult conversations between students in classrooms and museums, which have become tedious to navigate (McGee, 2021). However, educators are advocating that these open conversations are becoming more vital in Texas academic spaces, and more research is needed to find ways to support student development and healing in the face of potentially harmful educational restrictions. Amidst these changes in Texas, our team at The Art Galleries at Austin Community College has implemented a trauma-aware approach for all educational tours to encourage both open dialogue and connection in our spaces.
Oftentimes, civic discourse and healing can be seen in conflict with one another. Healing should “always” be quiet, calming, and contemplative. Civic discourse should “always” be contentious and thought-provoking. With these assumptions, healing, and discourse are at odds with one another. However, I believe they can feed one another through a trauma-aware approach to education. In this article, I draw on the research of Armstrong, et al. who have expanded upon the importance of trauma-awareness in modern-day museums. Their findings and frameworks act as the groundwork for my own research into trauma-aware approaches, which center connection above all. Through utilizing the frameworks that Armstrong, et al. lay out and centering connection, gallery educators can ensure that visitors can participate in civic discourse in an environment where their experiences and stories are paramount. Healing can occur through taking part in deep, arts-based discussions that connect visitors to their peers. Understanding this balance between healing and discourse is important in all museums — but especially for educational spaces and galleries in Texas.
What’s Happening in Texas?
Many of the legislative decisions in Texas have direct effects on educators. For example, there are recent laws that center on preventing the use of critical race theory (State of Texas, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, 2023). Critical race theory (CRT) is a framework of teaching which examines the underlying and systemic racism that can be found in social, political, and educational structures (Elnaiem, 2021). According to art educators Amelia M. Kraehe and Joni B. Acuff (2021), “[CRT] is a powerful framework for understanding, critiquing, and responding to racism as an endemic feature of modern life in the U.S. and beyond’’ (p. 9). Beyond being a compelling pedagogical framework, CRT prioritizes students sharing with and learning from their peers. However, in Texas, many legislative decisions have been designed with the intent to block CRT in classrooms and, by default, limit educational material and conversations centering on race and LGBTQ+ rights (Richman, 2022).
The most prevalent example of this is evident in the increasing instances of book bannings that occurred in the past year. In a report published by PEN America (2023), book bannings were most widespread amongst Texas districts, totaling 438 instances total in the 2022–2023 academic year. Beyond the focus on race, many of these book bannings also targeted LGBTQ+ communities. Overall, 30% of the books banned featured characters of color or discussed race (PEN America, 2023). Additionally, 26% of the banned material included LBGTQ+ protagonists (PEN America, 2023). In addition to book bannings, legislation, such as the HB 1155 bill “prohibits instruction regarding sexual orientation or gender identity for certain public school students” (Texas Legislature Online, 2023). With book bannings and restrictions to inclusive educational theories, many citizens of Texas feel unsafe because of these state legislative decisions (Human Rights Campaign, 2023; ACLU Texas, 2023), and the consequences of such measures can be incredibly disruptive and traumatic for many Texans, including students and educators.
For the purposes of this article, trauma is defined as a response in the body and mind that occurs when an event or change happens too fast to compartmentalize (Armstrong, 2020). When this dysregulation occurs, it can be hard to communicate effectively, regulate emotions, and connect with ourselves and others. In Texas schools, these swift changes are causing distress amongst teachers, struggling to adapt to regulations they feel are harmful to student learning and social development (McGee, 2021). More than this, teachers also feel that students of color will be specifically affected, as the classroom environment and educational lesson plans will not be as inclusive as they once were. In a Texas Tribune article, Kate McGee (2021) cites that many educators feel that “if kids are not able to make those connections [about] why this [lesson] matters to them here sitting in the classroom right now … we are losing a piece of making school matter to kids.” Additionally, McGee (2021) interviewed many Texas K-12 educators about their thoughts on CRT. Juan Carmona, a history educator from Donna, TX, notes that his district has seen greater student engagement due to implementing various Mexican-American and African-American history courses. Carmona notes, “We have seen more student involvement because they can now see their voices, their people, their own culture being in history . . . they never saw themselves, so they were not engaged” (McGee, 2021). Upon the passing of laws that target CRT, many of these educational feats, which have benefited students in the classroom, are at risk.
As a museum educator at a community college, I am free from many of the constraints that my K-12 counterparts experience. For example, as an academic gallery educator, I predominantly facilitate tours with university-age students. Therefore, I do not have parents or school boards questioning my pedagogical practices or curricular choices. Additionally, because our students are adults, we can often engage in mature conversations centering on difficult topics — a feat possible but sometimes daunting with K-12 students (Kraehe & Acuff, 2021, p. 157).
However, in my role, I do come face to face with first-semester college students, who have been the direct result of these legislative decisions and their effects on the classroom. Overflowing with many ideas, emotions, and opinions, these new students arrive at the gallery on campus ready and eager to share. Museums in general can act as a place of civic discourse (Kletchka, 2018; National Council on Public History, n.d.). For these students, our galleries are a place where they can freely question the events happening around them. Our gallery is also a place for students to find connection and healing. In the wake of these changes in Texas, I have found that adopting a trauma-aware approach to in-gallery teaching has led to students having not only a meaningful experience but a transformative one (Fejeran & Spiers, in press; Spiers, 2022; Armstrong, et al., 2021).
What is Trauma-Aware Gallery Teaching?
Trauma-aware teaching is facilitating a gallery experience with the knowledge that visitors come to the museum with various forms of seen or unseen trauma. The cornerstone of a trauma-aware educational approach is centering connection and visitor experience through various methods (Fejeran & Spiers, in press; Spiers, 2022; Armstrong, et al., 2021; Wiskera, et al., 2020). In the article Weaving Trauma Awareness into Museum Education, Armstrong, et al. (2021, p. 454) describe that trauma-aware teaching in a gallery setting can be achieved through: “orientation (setting a supportive tone); being with one another (regulation, attunement, and responsive pacing); [prioritizing] choice and voice; and [centering] connection.”
During these in-gallery conversations, we center our discussion on student experiences and include social-emotional check-ins and trauma-informed prompts in our tours. Examples of these prompts can simply be asking everyone to share one word for their day so far or encouraging visitors to engage their five senses through grounding techniques or movement exercises that engage the body (Palamara, et al., 2020; Kai-Kee, et al., 2020). Through this approach, a tour which centers other themes can have these small trauma-aware activities present without taking away from the educational aspect of the tour. The key is that the delivery of our tours are always built on a trauma-aware scaffold, even if the tour itself does not have a healing focus. In this way, we are able to build a sense of community, connection, and resilience as students discuss these complicated issues that exist everywhere — but are felt so keenly in Texas.
Trauma-aware approaches worked especially well for a gallery tour for newly enrolled first-generation college students in the Ascender student organization. The student program often coordinates community-building events for first-semester college students. The Art Galleries hosts one of these programs to allow Ascender students to connect through art. More specifically, gallery staff plans specific tours that revolve around creative, collaborative, low-risk activities. In Fall of 2022, we chose a collaborative poetry activity using metal cooking sheets and magnetic words (Image 1).
The current exhibition at the time of this Fall 2022 tour was Cultivating Community through Art: Sam Coronado’s Serie Project, which “highlights the wide-reaching influence of Sam Coronado (1946–2013), former ACC professor, artist mentor, and Chicano art movement icon. Coronado’s teachings and guidance impacted Austin’s artistic community and many others beyond Texas borders” (The Art Galleries at Austin Community College, 2022).
Many of the themes found within Coronado’s artwork involve ideas such as belonging, identity, struggle, perseverance, social justice, Latino/a life, and community. These themes could dovetail perfectly with the collaborative poetry activity we planned and could potentially leave the door open for students to talk with one another about the artworks’ themes.
We started our tour with a social-emotional check-in, which had everyone take one minute to choose one specific image from a pile of postcards that represented their current mood. After taking five minutes to discuss our images, we eased into the exhibition artwork, reminding everyone that the priority was connecting and that there were no wrong answers.
We then stopped at our first artwork, Hands Rope (2006) by Sam Coronado (Image 2). This artwork symbolizes many of the underlying causes behind Coronado’s practice, the most important being community and supporting one another in times of struggle. Before diving into Coronado’s background, we discussed what the students saw in the painting. Students immediately began noticing the notes of struggle in the artwork — from the look of worry on the figure’s face to the warm background. One student noted, “I see someone holding on for dear life. He looks concerned, maybe even afraid. The hand pulling him up looks strong.”
Students began building on each other’s observations and interpretations as the conversation unfolded. The conversation led to emotions and economic struggles, and another student said, “This artwork makes me think about having a feeling of giving up, but knowing I shouldn’t. There’s always help.”
After discussing this artwork for about fifteen minutes, I started sharing more information about Coronado and his focus on social justice and building community through art. Students eventually brought the conversation to their communities. They ultimately used the artworks as a vehicle to think about their own experiences, as well as the experiences of others. Through slowing down and focusing on connection, students had already begun connecting through Coronado’s artwork. This very simple conversation led to students building a rapport with each other, which fed into our collaborative poetry activity.
For the poetry activity, students paired off into groups of four or five and chose one singular artwork to focus on collectively. After choosing their artwork, students individually wrote five words or phrases in response to the work on small magnetic paper strips. After documenting their responses, students came together and used their own words and words provided on the metal pan to write their collaborative poem. Students could also come together and write new words or phrases to fit their poems.
Students gathered as a group to read their poems aloud when they finished writing. As each group read their poems, I would ask open-ended prompts or questions — for example, “What themes or details jumped out at you?” or “What did your group notice after you came together?” Often, these questions would spark conversations about the artwork itself and how each group member interpreted the work. In one particular group, students noticed themes of feminism and sorrow in an artwork titled La Llorona Desperately Seeking Coyolxauhqui (2003) by Alma Lopez. The group’s poem (Image 4) reads,
“I am legend
because of my own pain,
rosa espinada.
Where is your god? The past & the present.
Understand my hurt.
Alive but muerte inside, womanhood. Doubt”
After reading the poem aloud, students began equating this sorrow with the tragic story of La Llorona, described as “an Indigenous woman who married a Spanish man directly after the conquests in Mexico. After he abandoned her, she drowned her two children in grief. La Llorona became overcome with regret and drowned herself, resulting in her becoming a spirit that roamed bodies of water” (Parks, 2022).
As the conversation unfolded, students connected this artwork and its story to their own experiences as women in Texas. One student noted that she resonated with the sorrow and helplessness the figure feels and connected this to her feelings tied to Texas’s recent political climate. Other female students added to this point in the conversation, alluding to her feeling of powerlessness to the recent abortion legislation, which impacts women’s reproductive rights (Texas State Law Library, 2023). Ultimately, this conversation about the artwork lasted for over 40 minutes as these students shared their thoughts and feelings. Eventually, a third student shared:
Getting the chance to see art through someone else’s eyes was very impactful to me. I love the representation of women in the gallery — I feel that we as women are represented here as strong, not weak, which was validating.
After we cycled through each group’s poem and artwork, we took part in one final closing activity, which had students finish the phrase “I noticed . . . “ with whatever takeaways they had after their time in the galleries. Three student responses are noted below:
Student 1: “I noticed that a lot of the art here is based on political struggles, especially Mexican-American Latinx. There are modern takes as well as past lives and experiences found here — through the conversations and through the artworks.”
Student 2: “I noticed how diverse personalities and perspectives can be brought together through the interpretations of the art.”
Student 3: “I appreciate the opportunity for collective creativity. Getting an opportunity to hear other’s perspectives on a singular artwork is [underlined] powerful.”
Through their conversational responses and the closing activity, it was clear that students left their experience in the gallery with broader perspectives after discussing social issues together as a group. They had felt the sense of connection that was formed through empathetic, open dialogue and ultimately learned more about themselves and their peers through this experience. Additionally, by providing stopgaps such as social-emotional check-ins and closing response activities, our education team was able to ensure further that these students were not leaving with an adverse experience. Instead, they were able to discuss these issues openly without fear of reproach and without contention while also being given ample time and opportunity to reflect on themselves and the conversation with their peers. These factors led to a gallery tour that included civic dialogue about Texas politics, all under a trauma-aware scaffold.
Conclusion
Through utilizing a trauma-aware framework, students in our gallery space could process their thoughts on recent Texas legislation and connect through their conversations. Open dialogue might not always happen this smoothly in every classroom lesson or every gallery tour. However, using a trauma-aware lens and centering connection during these conversations can help educators highlight the human thoughts and feelings that can be buried under the conflict tangled within these social and political issues. As museum educators, we understand that artworks can allow us to focus on the human experience, and museums can be places of transformative experiences. In these times, it’s important to keep these long-standing thoughts at the front of our minds and explore new approaches that center connection and address the traumas in our society.
Olivia Spiers (she/her) is the Outreach and Educational Programming Coordinator at The Art Galleries (TAG) at Austin Community College. She holds a B.A. in Art History from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale and a M.A. in Art Education from the University of Texas at Austin.
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