What turns a piece of street art from illegal graffiti to legitimate public art? How does art depict law, or vice versa? What role can art play in the rehabilitation of young offenders and how can art assist in the criminal justice system overall? What role does aesthetics play in the daily practice of law, and what are the recent changes in media and intellectual property law that account for extant creative and artistic forms of ownership?
These are some of the central questions that this StreetLaw project proposes to interrogate, bringing students in contact with not just doctrinal and desk-based legal research, but practical and community-based concerns relating to law and everyday life.
Street Law is a law-in-action based project that is in place throughout universities in not just the UK, but the US and beyond, with the aim of getting students involved in research on a specific legal issue concerning a given community. StreetLaw.org is a useful website on the history and ethos of StreetLaw projects.
For StreetLaw Brighton there will be a maximum of 6 students working on the project, for the duration of an academic year.
They begin with a set of research questions around a legal issue which have been provided for by the given community, and their task is then to go away and collate information on the issue, write up the research in report form and present to the community at the end of the project.
Who is the community?
‘Art Schism’ – Art Schism is a gallery and shop run by a co-operative of artists and makers from Brighton which started out life in December 2012 as a pop up shop.
Moving in to 2013 the artists decided to continue to run the space as a collective, with Art Schism becoming keen supporters of the local arts scene and the North Laine community.
Creative director ‘SinnaOne’, is keen on collaborating with Sussex Law School on the Brighton StreetLaw project and has worked in art therapy and community-based art projects, the experience of which he is excited to share with the students at Sussex.
What’s in it for Art Schism?
Art Schism will be in contact with up-to-date research and clinical legal advice on issues relating to ownership, copyright, relevant laws relating to galleries;
Art Schism will be able to work on a positive project enhancing the clinical legal experience of undergraduate students and assist in their understanding of complex issues relating to therapy, rehabilitation, criminal justice, the role of law in street art and graffiti art;
Art Schism will be part of an exciting project that allows them to work with the community in collaboration with Sussex Law School.
What’s in it for the students?
To have a thorough understanding of the law applicable to ownership of art, the role law plays in the definitions of street and graffiti art;
To gain an understanding of the role of art therapy in rehabilitation and the role this can play in broader questions relating to criminal justice;
To be able to apply that law to given situations, in a procedurally accurate and practically relevant way;
To have improved legal and transferable skills, notably applied research, communication, problem-solving, time management and team work.
Watch this space for the exciting developments of StreetLaw Brighton to come …
StreetLaw Brighton 