Welcome to the C4AA

We help activists to think like artists...

and artists to think like activists

Across a range of issues...

All over the world.

We believe

that activism is too often flat & colorless

And doesn't need to be

we believe there's an art to activism

and we aim to win.

R E C E N T N E W S

Alumni Spotlight: POETYK PRYNX

C4AA Alumni Spotlight: Vivian Peng

Case Study: Artistic Activism at the AIDS Conference

MORE RECENT NEWS

The Center for Artistic Activism is a research and training institute dedicated to making activism more creative and art more effective. Read more

WHAT IS C4AA?

We run programs that help activists create more like artists and artists strategize more like activists. We do rigorous research on artistic activism, past and present, and reconnoiter related fields. The result is better informed theory and more effective practice. The result is Artistic Activism. Read more

WHAT WE DO

Artistic Activism is neither art nor activism.

It’s both: a dynamic hybrid that leverages the affective qualities of art and the effective capabilities of activism.

Like art and activism, artistic activism only works when it moves us. Read more

WHAT IS ARTISTIC ACTIVISM?

T H E D I R E C T O R S

Steve Lambert

Artistic Director

STEVE LAMBERT

Rebecca Bray

Managing Director

REBECCA BRAY

Stephen Duncombe

Research Director

STEPHEN DUNCOMBE

Steve Duncombe, a veteran activist, was sick of planning protests that were routine, colorless and ineffective. Steve Lambert, an accomplished artist, was frustrated by political art that few saw and impacted less. Together, they founded the Center for Artistic Activism in 2009. Rebecca Bray, former Chief of Experience Design at the Smithsonian Museum, joined the Steve’s in 2016 and today the C4AA runs training workshops, mentors artist and activist groups, and conducts research on the æfficacy of artistic activism world-wide. Read more