B. Stephen Carpenter II

Artists have long created objects, images, and experiences as positive interventions that encourage others to engage meaningfully with the world. In response to the global water crisis, some artists have recently taken the lead in the production of low-cost ceramic water filters created from local materials to provide an affordable means for rendering disease-contaminated water potable. B. Stephen Carpenter II, Professor of Art Education at the Pennsylvania State University, is a leader in this movement. At this talk he discusses the global water crisis as a human-rights call to action and offers a response grounded in local materials, artistic interventions, and curricular possibilities.

Professor of Art Education and Professor-in-Charge of the Art Education Program at the Pennsylvania State University, Carpenter is a recipient of the National Art Education Association Eugene Grigsby Award and was named a NAEA Distinguished Fellow in 2013. His mixed-media installations and performance artwork have been exhibited in regional, national, and international exhibitions. He was founding codirector of the Texas Governor’s School in Arts and Humanities for Urban Leadership (2009–11), codirector of the TAMU Water Project, and chief executive artist of Reservoir Studio, an underground collective for transdisciplinary collaboration. Find out more about Carpenter and his work at sites.psu.edu/bscarpenterii.

Cosponsored by Ohio State’s Department of Arts Administration, Education, and Policy, and Center for Material Culture Studies.