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Recent News: Arts and Activism
April 28, 2010
N.J.: Mass School Walkouts Organized on Facebook
Some 18,000 students in New Jersey protested against school budget cuts (including the arts) by walking out of class on April 27, 2010, in response to a protest organized on Facebook.
[more ]
April 15, 2010
Chris Jordan on Art's Transformative Power
“I believe that we need to allow ourselves to feel grief deeply. Anger and rage and shame—those are surface feelings. Grief is deep," says photographer Chris Jordan in the new YES! magazine.
[more ]
April 15, 2010
Win 25 copies of A People's History of the U.S.
The Zinn Education Project is giving away sets of Howard Zinn’s classic, "A People’s History of the United States," to 20 teachers who submitstories about how they teach a people’s history in the classroom.
[more ]
April 12, 2010
Government Supports Art for Social Change
Hugo Chávez's government in Venezuela is supporting an army of street artists whose murals are a central element of its promotion of the state ideology.
[more ]
April 1, 2010
Launch: Film of LAPD's Bolivian Tour
Los Angeles Poverty Department has produced a 30-minute film about its recent "Agentes y Activos" tour of Bolivia.
[more ]
 More Arts and Activism news
 Go to APInews for complete news listings
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| All Essays on Arts and Activism |
A Bridge Conversation about Animating a Latin American Idea in the U.S.:
Paul Chin and Vanessa Whang talk about crossing lines of culture and politics, race and ethnicity, and the local and global.
By Vanessa Whang
(April 2008)
A Bridge Conversation about Creating Transformative Spaces:
Harriet Barlow and Kathy Engel talk about the Commons and crossing borders.
By Kathy Engel
(April 2008)
A Bridge Conversation on Anthropology as Social Activism:
Alaka Wali and Lena Richardson on drumming circles, sustainable conservation and valuing difference.
By Rebecca Lena Richardson
(April 2008)
A Bridge Conversation on Direct and Indirect Approaches to Community Change:
Littleglobe and South West Organizing Project talk about finding a relationship between community-engaged arts and organizing.
By Valerie Martinez, Robby Rodriguez, Molly Sturges and Rosina Roibal
(June 2008)
A Bridge Conversation on New Paradigms of Artful Change:
Can art be as powerful a vehicle for change as it can be a bastion for maintaining the status quo?
By Dudley Cocke, Peter Pennekamp and Craig McGarvey
(March 2008)
A Bridge Conversation on Planning the Revolution over Collards:
Tufara Waller Muhammad and Javiera Benavente talk about the long tradition of arts and culture in Southern organizing and the danger of putting the spotlight on individuals.
By Javiera Benavente
(June 2008)
A Bridge Conversation on Who Will Carry the Work Forward:
An intergenerational conversation at the State of Nation Arts & Performance Festival and a tribute to Nayo Watkins.
By Caron Atlas, Rebecca Lena Richardson and Carlton Turner
(June 2008)
A Bridge Conversation on the Creativity of Strategic Communications:
Dee Davis and Michelle Miller talk about the aesthetics and mathematics of social change.
By Michelle Miller
(June 2008)
A Bridge Conversation on the Tensions and Synergies of Being Strategic and Creative:
Brad Lander and Esther Robinson talk about organizing and art, anthropological listening, and whether being holistic is important.
By Esther Robinson
(June 2008)
A Text as a Bridge — for You, You and You:
Reflections and lessons learned during five conversations with Alternate ROOTS about Resources for Social Change.
By Gwylene Gallimard and Hope Clark
(January 2010)
Acting Like Women: Performance Art of the Woman's Building:
History and teaching methods of the Los Angeles center for women's culture. Puvblished in High Performance #11/12, Vol. III, Nos. 3/4, 1980.
By Cheri Gaulke
(September 2002)
An Ethic of the End: How Planning and Evaluation Make Art Political:
Art for social justice: Is it Art? Only if it has a clear vision of its purpose.
By David Sloan
(September 2008)
An Introduction to Community Art and Activism:
Some history, theory and personal perspective on activist art for community change.
By Jan Cohen-Cruz
(February 2002)
Answering the Call of the Drums:
"GroupSpeak" poem assembled from the actual words of those in attendance at Animating Democracy's 2003 National Exchange on Art & Civic Dialogue in Flint, Mich.
By Alice Lovelace
(November 2003)
Art Action for Social Change: Kids on the Hill:
A theory of change in three parts: Experiential Education, Art Action, Civic Engagement.
By Mark Carter and Rebecca Yenawine
(August 2008)
Art and U.S. Elections 2004:
Arts activism around the U.S. presidential election in fall 2004.
By Linda Frye Burnham
(June 2004)
Art in the AIDies: An Act of Faith:
The late playwright ponders making art in the face of death, and talks with other prominent artists with AIDS about their issues related to art, survival and political fury. Published in High Performance #36, Vol. IX, No. 4, 1986.
By Max Navarre
(September 2002)
Arts, Activism and Humanity – The Prison Creative Arts Project:
Investing in the voices of the incarcerated.
By Geetha Iyer
(August 2008)
Behind the Fence: Forum Theatre on Lupus, Lead Poisoning & Environmental Justice:
A Buffalo, N.Y., community cleans up its SuperFund site.
By John Sullivan
(February 2008)
Beyond Victimization:
On not letting our identities by defined by our oppression. Published in High Performance #72, Vol. XIX, No. 2, 1996.
By Dan Kwong
(October 2003)
Book Review - Arts for Change: Teaching Outside the Frame:
Review of a new book by Beverly Naidus, the latest from New Village Press.
By Anusha Venkataraman
(April 2009)
Book Review: Art and Upheaval: Artists on the World Frontlines:
What are the roles that artists can play in the midst of severe violence?
By Craig Zelizer
(July 2008)
Cómo un teatro en Bolivia enfrenta los problemas de la privatización del agua:
How a community-based theater in Bolivia addresses the problem of water privatization. (Spanish Language translation)
By Eve Tulbert
(May 2004)
Cannons and Muses: Art in Real-time Crisis:
You're invited to participate in an international collaboration that began in Israel when two art students organized an "urgent conference" during the 2009 Gaza war.
By Moran Been-noon
(June 2009)
Community Arts 2007: A Muscular Year:
The field of community-based arts showed its muscle this year.
By Linda Frye Burnham
(December 2007)
Community Arts 2008: The Year of the Great Leap:
CAN's year-end roundup of trends across the field.
By Linda Frye Burnham
(December 2008)
Community-based Art for Social Change:
A definitive essay on art and social change.
By Kathie deNobriga and Mat Schwarzman
(October 1999)
Conversations at the Intersection of Art and Activism:
Ideas from "FOCAS: Focus on Community Arts South" by Alternate ROOTS.
By Linda Frye Burnham
(April 2003)
Cultura para Todos: Colombian Community Arts... and politics:
Maybe political participation is what keeps the arts relevant and thriving in our communities.
By Susan Appe
(January 2007)
Cultural Organizing: A Conversation at the Intersection:
An exchange among eight artist activists, community organizers and funders.
(August 2006)
Cultural Organizing: Third World Majority, Raices and M.U.G.A.B.E.E.:
Three approaches to placing art and culture at the center of an organizing strategy.
By Javiera Benavente
(December 2008)
Culture After Saddam: Video Artists Restore a Country's Identity in Iraqi Kurdistan:
Article on the work of Iraqi Kurdish video artists and filmmakers who provided first-hand perspective on life in northern Iraq after the Gulf War of 1991. Published in High Performance #65, Vol. XVII, No. 1, 1994.
By Ann Zimmerman
(December 1999)
Dance as Activism: Questions for a Little Black Girl:
Is it possible to build a community that takes stock in a Little Black Girl, invested in her value, her honor, her power and her potential?
By Carol Marie Webster
(August 2008)
Don't Do It! Organizational Suicide Prevention for Progressives:
Four classic ways progressive organizations paralyze or destroy themselves, and seven ways to avoid it.
By Arlene Goldbard
(September 2004)
El Teatro Campesino: An Interview with Luis Valdez:
The noted director talks about the cultural wing of the United Farm Workers union, a popular theater that took its material directly from the lives of its audience in the bean fields of California's central valley. published in High Performance #32, Vol. VIII, No. 4, 1985.
By Carl Heyward
(September 2002)
El Teatro Lucha de Salud del Barrio: Theater and Environmental Health in Texas:
How a U.S. government toxicology center uses Theatre of the Oppressed to infuse respect and mutual regard into the process of doing public health work.
By John Sullivan
(October 2005)
Getting in History's Way:
Intro essay from "Activists Speak Out: Reflections on the Pursuit of Change in America," 15 interviews edited by Marie Cieri and Clarie Peeps (Palgrave, 2001).
By Claire Peeps
(August 2001)
Giving “Birth” in Little Rock:
"Birth: The Play" opens in Little Rock, Arkansas, a city where some say attitudes toward birthing are influenced by a “subculture of fear.”
By April Gentry-Sutterfield
(June 2009)
Grassroots Arts Education on the Cutting Edge: An Interview with Sonia BasSheva Mañjon:
Talking with the Director of the Center for Art & Public Life at California College of the Arts. Part 4 of "A Landmark Year."
By Linda Frye Burnham
(September 2006)
Growing Together: Artists & Farmers Meet in Lancashire:
Conference Report: Creative Rural Industries, Lancaster, England, September 2006.
By Linda Frye Burnham
(October 2006)
I Was Singing You:
A leading poet/organizer on what inspired her at INTERSECTION IV. Part 3 of "Re/Generations: Bridging the Centuries of Art & Activism."
By Alice Lovelace
(November 2006)
Ideology, Confrontation and Political Self-Awareness:
The artist puts forward an understanding of how ideologies are developed and maintained, and how the activist artist can recognize and address them. Published in High Performance #13, Vol. IV, No. 1, 1981.
By Adrian Piper
(September 2002)
Insights from Arts and Civic Engagement: 13 Profiles:
Pathways to building a participatory culture.
By Rebecca Lena Richardson
(November 2008)
Integrating Community Arts and Conflict Resolution: Lessons and Challenges from the Field:
Key observations on working in conflict transformation.
By Craig Zelizer
(June 2007)
Interposing on the Collective Culture through the Arts: A Case Study of One University Course:
What if artists merged discussions about formal aesthetics and the elements and principles of art/design with discussions about moral growth and public good? From Community Arts Perspectives, Vol. 1, No. 1.
By Rachel Marie-Crane Williams
(June 2008)
It's About Transformation: Thoughts on Arts as Social Action:
Essay on roles of arts and activism. Published in High Performance #64, Vol. XVI, No. 4, 1993.
By Mat Schwarzman
(December 1999)
It's All I Can Think About: An Interview with Nancy Buchanan:
The artist talks about her work based in social and political issues, including the status of women, the Cold War, U.S. policies toward the Third World, and the war in Nicaragua. published in High Performance #25, Vol. VII, No. 1, 1984.
By Linda Frye Burnham and Steven Durland
(September 2002)
It's Hard to Watch Your Brother Die: A Story from the Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project:
A rural Colorado town commits to examining the death penalty.
By Shelly Johnson and Jared Williams
(November 2006)
Just a Little Drop of Water: How a community based theater in Bolivia addresses the problem of water privatization:
How a community-based theater in Bolivia addresses the problem of water privatization
By Eve Tulbert
(May 2004)
Keeping it Real: The People's Agenda for Economic Justice:
A report on the "Dialog with America's Families" in South Carolina before the state's primary.
By Linda Frye Burnham
(February 2004)
LAPD, Skid Row & The Real Deal:
Two founders talks about the Los Angeles Poverty Department, a performance group that grew out of a 1985 workshop for the homeless of Los Angeles. Published in High Performance #43, Vol. XI, No. 3, 1988.
By Elia Arce and John Malpede
(September 2002)
Let's Give Them Something to Talk About: Animating Democracy's Last Gathering:
Report on Animating Democracy's 2003 National Exchange on Art & Civic Dialogue in Flint, Mich.
By Linda Frye Burnham
(November 2003)
Letter from an Artist: Marty Pottenger:
Performance artist Marty Pottenger writes about her participatory public action in New York's Union Square after the attacks of September 11, 2001.
By Marty Pottenger
(October 2001)
Listening for the Lexicon of Cultural Shift:
New language from old wisdom about community art as lived experience.
By Linda Frye Burnham
(May 2007)
Neither That Nor That: Trading Stories at the Intersection of Arts and Penal Welfare:
The Medea Project and Intersection for the Arts team up to explore the California prison system.
By Nina Billone
(May 2008)
New Orleans Case Studies: Illustrating Coalition Work of Organizers, Educators and Artists:
One of four essays that reflect on the National Convergence of Artists, Educators and Organizers.
(February 2004)
On the Side of the Deepest Soul on Earth: An Interview with Ja Kyung Rhee and Hye Sook of Theatre 1981:
Two Korean artists talk about their shamanic theater of protest against the use of mass violence against peoples everywhere. Published by High Performance #45, Vol. XII, No. 1, 1989.
By Steven Durland
(September 2002)
Part of a Greater Whole – Reflections on Intersection IV: Re/Generations:
A longtime arts activist puts INTERSECTION IV in context. Part 1 of "Re/Generations: Bridging the Centuries of Art & Activism."
By Caron Atlas
(November 2006)
Promoting Social Justice with San Francisco's Most Creative Capital:
A Public Health official argues for social justice through the arts in the City by the Bay.
By Maria X. Martinez
(April 2009)
Que No Se Vuelva a Repetir:
El Salvador's Revolutionary Youth Theatre remembers the Scorched Earth massacre of 1981.
By Aryeh Shell
(May 2008)
RFK in EKY: Maximum Feasible Participation:
John Malpede re-creates Robert Kennedy's 1968 "poverty tour" in Kentucky.
By Jane Hirshberg
(November 2004)
Re/Generations: Bridging the Centuries of Art & Activism:
Introducing essays by participants in a recent New WORLD Theater conference.
By Linda Frye Burnham
(November 2006)
Reflections on Convergence: A Youth Perspective on Intersection IV:
Thoughts on the INTERSECTION IV Youth Convergence. Includes a collective poem. Part 2 of "Re/Generations: Bridging the Centuries of Art & Activism."
By Jacqueline Johnson and Raul Matta
(November 2006)
Reflections on New Orleans:
One of four essays that reflect on the National Convergence of Artists, Educators and Organizers.
(February 2004)
Rehearsing for Dramatic Change in Afghanistan:
A theater scholar uses Boal technique in a global hotspot.
By Sonja Arsham Kuftinec
(December 2004)
She Who Would Fly: An Interview with Suzanne Lacy:
The performance artist talks about her large-scale performances about rape, aging and the status of women in U.S. culture. Published in High Performance #1, Vol. I, No. 1, 1978.
By Richard Newton
(September 2002)
Shooting the Klan: An Interview with Andres Serrano:
The artist, an unwilling soldier in the Culture Wars of the early '90s, talks about making "Piss Christ," photographing the Ku Klux Klan, and how things have changed for him as a result of all the hoopla. Published in High Performance #55, Vol. XIV, No. 3, 1991.
By Coco Fusco
(September 2002)
Silence Still = Death:
The art critic views the work of activist Michael Nash and his cohorts in ACT UP as art. Published in High Performance #36, Vol. IX, No. 4, 1986.
By Lucy Lippard
(September 2002)
Support for Art and Social Justice:
Remarks by arts director of Nathan Cummings Foundation, made at a 2002 Alternate ROOTS conference in Lexington, Kentucky.
By Claudine Brown
(February 2003)
Taking Back the Power: An Interview with Robbie Conal:
The artist talks about wallpapering cities with his satirical portraits of figures in power, including Caspar Weinberger, Nancy Reagan, Oliver North and Margaret Thatcher. Published in High Performance #39, Vol. X, No. 3, 1987.
By Claire Peeps
(September 2002)
Taking Down the Walls from the Outside:
An activist artist describes his work on prison reform. Published in High Performance #71, Vol. XIX, No. 1, 1996.
By Marshall Weber
(December 1999)
The 1000 Kites Summit: A Community Arts Focus Group:
An example of cross-sector thinking that's integrating the arts into real-world change.
By Linda Frye Burnham
(October 2007)
The Artist as Activist:
Introduction to Part II of "The Citizen Artist: 20 Years of Art in the Public Arena," anthology of articles from High Performance magazine.
By Linda Frye Burnham
(September 2002)
The Community Artist from the Community:
A community arts grad student goes to work in the Native American community where she grew up.
By Ashley Minner
(August 2008)
The Eye & Tooth Project: Confronting Capital Punishment in Texas:
An experiment in legislative theater.
By John Sullivan
(August 2009)
The Four Pillars of Creative Action:
One of four essays that reflect on the National Convergence of Artists, Educators and Organizers.
By Kathryn Blume
(February 2004)
The Path of Stories: Artists and The Thousand Kites Project:
A long, deep look into a multi-arts collaboration that's starting a national conversation about the U.S. prison industrial complex. Includes video.
By Arlene Goldbard
(May 2008)
The Porch — A Cultural Center in the Seventh Ward of New Orleans:
Starting a cultural organization in a neighborhood struggling with survival.
By Ron Bechet, Willie Birch and Helen Regis
(July 2008)
The Rubber Meets the Road: Community Arts Activism and Cultural Hegemony:
Community arts activists spend far too much time engaged in the perpetuation and recapitulation of the dominant cultural hegemony, evading the critical lens themselves.
By Carol Marie Webster
(December 2009)
These are the times that try our Souls:
Keynote speech at Animating Democracy's 2003 National Exchange on Art & Civic Dialogue in Flint, Mich.
By Grace Lee Boggs
(November 2003)
What Happened in New Orleans? Reflections on the National Convergence of Artists, Educators and Organizers:
One of four essays that reflect on the National Convergence of Artists, Educators and Organizers.
By Andrea Assaf
(February 2004)
What Happens When the Revolution Doesn't Come?:
Commentary on struggles and difficulties of activism. First published in High Performance #71, Vol. XIX, No. 1, 1996.
By Keith Hennessy
(December 1999)
Witness: The Guerrilla Theater of Greenpeace:
Looking at the theatrical aspects of Greenpeace's public protests. First published in High Performance #40, Vol. X, No. 4, 1987.
By Steven Durland
(December 1999)
[How] Does Activist Performance Work?:
Might theater, and the relationships it produces, be the site of social change?
By Sonja Arsham Kuftinec
(February 2008)
zAmya Theater Project: Toward an Intimacy of Social Change:
zAmya is a place where those who have experienced homelessness are placed front and center.
By Rachel Chaves
(February 2008)
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From the Archive...
" Mayfair, a gateway community for immigrants arriving from Mexico, has history of activism that began in the '40s when residents fought for better working conditions in the packing plants."
—Aryeh Shell in
Reclaiming Culture: ¡Que Viva La Posada!
Recent Links: Arts and Activism
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