Urban Newsletter Art Piece (unknown page number, 1 of 3)

Dana C. Chandler's Urban Newsletter Art Piece is not only a collection and archive of African American Master Artists-in Residency Program (AAMARP) history but also a curated act of resistance and activism. He created the document (totaling twenty-five double-sided pages) in 1993, in direct response to Northeastern University provost Michael Baer's announcement of an extreme 75% cut to the AAMARP program budget, as well as Chandler's dismissal as AAMARP director. Each page is a photocopied collage of various AAMARP documents, Chandler's personal annotations, and/or news clippings that function as evidence of contradicting establishment statements. In addition to Northeastern-specific content, he includes coverage of police brutality and protests to highlight historic and widespread institutional oppression. By juxtaposing such excerpts against AAMARP ephemera exemplifying perseverance through collective labor and activism, Chandler critiques both local and systemic institutional narratives, oppression, and neglect, and calls on viewers to do the same. Taking the work a step beyond conceptual critique, he amplified his message and raised awareness by personally distributing copies throughout the community.

This particular page calls out and disputes the reasoning behind Northeastern University's AAMARP budget cuts. Chandler emphasizes the institution's dishonesty with enlarged, bolded, capitalized,  and/or underlined headings including “NORTHEASTERN U. LIES TO JAMAICA PLAIN!”, “The Heat is On Northeastern University,” and “another lie?” The main body content, a dated letter from Chandler to university Vice president John “Jack” Martin, serves as evidence to counter Baer's claim that AAMARP didn't sufficiently interact with the surrounding community. Chandler typographically structures the page to reframe the institutional narrative with clarity, even at a glance. Towards the top are the aforementioned headlines, followed by the letter—annotated with strategically underlining and a thick, surrounding rectangular outline—and lastly, text clippings that serve as a summary and a call to action: “Studio director says NU officials lied to buy Jamaica Plain facility,” “Boston loses another great Gallery,” and “Give it back!”