Rob Moriarty is an artist and a teacher whose artwork is informed by the juxtaposition of those two realities. Moriarty has been a frontline public school teacher for over five years; his curriculum is an amalgamation of contemporary studio art practices, critical media studies, and community development. He investigates the relationship between a school community, student performance, and the appearance of its physical environment.

Moriarty is actively engaged with altering the school facilities, acknowledging the art teacher’s responsibility to realize a more creative environment. In the studio and on the street, Moriarty prefers to imagine himself as a performance artist whose work is not easy to categorize or interpret. He has completed a project designed to beautify local spaces while creating public protest art against war. The critical street collaboration included more than a dozen artists and can be seen at www.artstrikechicago.com. Moriarty is also developing his voice as an electronic sound artist. His latest sound recording warpornTVprotestmusic can be downloaded for free at www.nerdtronica.com and www.postfixE.com.

Rob Moriarty Artist Statement

My work explores the transformative power of art and its effect on our personal and collective consciousness. I want to make the world more beautiful; I believe art has the ability to liberate the oppressed, teach the illiterate, and inspire the disillusioned. It could crumble an empire. So, I imagine myself as a working class surreal spirit facing the challenges of life in contemporary America. Art is my tool; freedom is my desire. Optimism is my weapon.

As a cultural activist, I consciously work in communities with diverse populations. I believe the mono-cultural corporate community is cancerous to our collective well-being. Therefore, my work strives to challenge our assumptions about a singular or central cultural paradigm. A carefully created work of art can alter perceptions about life, offering the viewer a multiplicity of meaning.

As a public artist, I am most interested in reclaiming public space driven by the passion of art. I hope to create work that inspires people to re-think their relationship to the environment, inventing situations where art acts as a catalyst for progressive social change. The collaborative nature of the community arts movement has been an important influence in my development since joining the Chicago Public Art Group in 1996. Within this organization, I have found mentors and inspiration beyond description.

My work as a public school teacher explores the role of an artist/teacher in cultivating and inspiring the imagination of a community. I rely on the assumption that a public school can act as a site for imaginative and literate individuals to create and beautify their environment.

Cambios de Semillas: The Nature of Education, 1999, reverse cast concrete relief and cracked ceramic tile mosaic, by Rob Moriarty


Reach: The New Respect for Learning, 2000, ceramic tile and paint, by Rob Moriarty


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