Maggie-Rose Condit-Summerson (Penn State)
A Glitch Feminist Art Pedagogy for Reproductive Justice

The purpose of this arts-based research is to gain insights into the pedagogical potentials of connecting artistic production, glitch feminism (Russell, 2020), and a reproductive justice framework. Through a curatorial residency with Pittsburgh artist-run space Bunker Projects, I am collaborating with participating local artists whose works animate the emerging intersections of reproductive justice issues, digital cultures/technologies, and data surveillance. Using the 3-D worldbuilding software Unreal Engine, I am assembling an immersive virtual exhibition environment featuring interactive encounters designed to amplify artists’ voices and enhance audiences’ critical reflection and engagement with the works. By placing the included artworks in dialogue, the exhibition asks: In a Post-Dobbs landscape, how are digital/data-driven technologies perpetuating reproductive injustices (which disproportionately harm marginalized communities)? Simultaneously, how might feminist artists/educators utilize digital technologies, online spaces, and modes of creation to glitch (i.e. subvert) emerging injustices, build collective resistance, and honor lived experiences? Through this research, I seek to generate a flexible body of pedagogical materials that feminist art educators can engage through their own praxis to raise learners’ critical consciousness surrounding reproductive justice issues and their intersections with the digital, shaping an emerging glitch feminist art pedagogy.

Advisor: Dr. Karen Keifer-Boyd, Professor of Art Education and Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies

Bio: Maggie-Rose Condit-Summerson (she/they) is an artist, educator, and doctoral candidate in Art Education and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Pennsylvania State University. Maggie-Rose’s dissertation research explores feminist art-centered pedagogies to illuminate the emerging intersections of reproductive justice issues, digital cultures/technologies, and surveillance. Maggie-Rose received an MFA in Visual Studies from Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. Her personal practice combines multi-media approaches, such as performance, video, and installation to explore the sticky relationships between femininity, the body, the marketplace, and digital culture, incorporating materials like cosmetics, confectionery ingredients, and stock images.