Dylan Halpern (B.F.A. ’15) is currently in São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city, where a controversial law has started the debate between cleaning up the city and preserving its artistic character.
Halpern, one of a university-record 11 Fulbright scholars currently studying overseas, is examining the effects of Lei Cidade Limpa (the Clean City Law), which in 2006 banned advertising signage in the largest city in the Southern Hemisphere. Beginning in 2007, under the direction of Mayor Gilberto Kassab, thousands of billboards, truck signs, posters and taxi ads were removed from the cityscape. Halpern is interested in the effects of the law on people — as consumers and members of the urban community.
“I’m examining how governance affects the creative culture in the city — everything from tourism to shopping and social visibility,” he said. “It’s a nexus of economic, social and cultural questions that coalesce into this very public, controversial issue.”
Read the full article on the VCU News site.
The post Fulbright scholar and VCUarts alum explores visual culture in São Paulo appeared first on VCUarts.