Announcing the Final Examination of Ha’ani Joy Hogan for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Texts & Technology
Through a case study of Prada Marfa, a site-specific public art sculpture located in West Texas, this dissertation examines the connection of public art, cultural tourism, and image-based social media engagement. Little scholarship that combines all three areas of study exists. To fill this gap, this study incorporates five methods of research to determine how one public art sculpture’s existence can contribute to its surrounding community by prompting economic activity and influencing the way that community is seen through a public lens. The five methods include a historical analysis of news articles about The City of Marfa and Prada Marfa, a content analysis of Instagram posts, observations of interactions at the Prada Marfa site, a survey sent to Instagram users, and interviews with key stakeholders related to the sculpture and the Marfa community. This dissertation finds that the acts of photography and performance work together to show how Prada Marfa’s existence generates intrigue for The City of Marfa and can influence tourism. It also finds how, regardless of a tourist’s motive to visit the sculpture, they were still influenced to travel to the region, specifically to see Prada Marfa. This dissertation also finds that the public narrative of Prada Marfa does not fully represent its local community and how the tourism dollars earned through arts engagement do not touch all individuals living in The City of Marfa. This research further reveals how image-based social media engagement, through the lens of cultural tourism to visit an Instagram-able site, can contribute to a community’s economy and public-facing identity. This research can be used as an advocacy tool for the nonprofit arts community to use when trying to discuss the benefits of public visual art.
Committee in Charge:
Committee Chair: Dr. Mel Stanfill
Committee Member: Dr. Connie Lester
Committee Member: Dr. Caroline Cheong
Committee Member (External): Dr. María del Mar González-González
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