Our group chose our topic based off of our interest in art as an overarching themes, we all

love the rebellious nature of artistic expression. We think using art as a way to stand up for ideas

and beliefs is both interesting and powerful, it is something we look to achieve in all of our

personal work. When exploring our separate subjects we looked for art that spanned across many

different mediums, things like visual art and music were the most prevalent but we then studied

more distinct forms. Art such as wood block printing and interpretive dance were some of the

more unique examples. We then moved away from primary sources and approached secondary

sources, these research and thesis papers dove into the meaning and symbolism. We then

compiled our work and organized it in chronological and theme based order.

We chose to present our research by creating a website because we thought it would be

the best way to lay out all of the artwork that we found and to show the progression of the use of

propaganda through warfare in United States history. To create our project we spent a lot of time

trying to find the best protest art possible that could be used to represent what happened

throughout each of the periods of warfare. We looked for quotes from prestigious sources that we

could use to back up each of our arguments about how propaganda was a big influence on the

20th century in American history, and how at times it was one of the most powerful weapons that

we had. We arranged our information chronologically so that it would be easy for viewers to

understand and would also show the evolution and advancement in this art form. We also wanted

to find the best way to make the information that we found accessible and easily understood, so

we tried to take a simplistic approach to the layout and design of our website, and we hope that

this will make it more comprehensible for everyone.

 Our project related to this years NHD theme by exploring the rebellious side of art, the

way that a simple painting or song can ignite feelings of resentment or pride. We looked towards

propaganda, propaganda is a coin that holds opposing opinions on each face. We saw a lot of

citizen based art propaganda, that used lyrical or literal imagery to change the minds of people

who were for the war movements. The simplicity of art performs greatly in the minds of people,

human beings place meaning on anything. All that matters is what a person places the meaning

upon.