Great news! — Center for Artistic Activism Co-founder Stephen Duncombe‘s new book “The Activist Angler” is out. Check OR/Books website to learn more and get a copy! So what is the book about? Elegantly written and charmingly illustrated, The Activist Angler shows how lessons learned from angling can guide political activism and vice versa. Patience, preparation and …
Author Archives: The Center for Artistic Activism
Utopia As Direction – My Experience with C4AA
Hi all, My name is Lisa Jo Epstein, and I was invited to write the C4AA newsletter today because I am one of the many artistic activists this wonderful organization has supported this year. I want you to know how they’ve helped my group do huge things and why they deserve your support. I’m the …
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Video — Revolutionizing Activism: Feasts
How can food be utilized to make an impactful critique, bring people together, and creatively navigate uncomfortable and sensitive discussions? Watch Dawn Weleski and Jon Rubin (Conflict Kitchen) in conversation with Tunde Wey (From Lagos) as they marinate on food as the message and the medium.
The Utopia Project Exhibit
In collaboration with the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum, we helped to create The Utopia Project, an interactive gallery experience all about creative activism. The exhibit will be live at the museum Nov 1, 2022 – March 1, 2023. The Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum is an amazing museum in Washington DC with a mission to to …
Apply to Join Our Board
The Center for Artistic Activism is seeking individuals to be part of our fantastic Board of Directors as volunteers. The Center for Artistic Activism Board of Directors comprises leaders from the nonprofit and for-profit sector who are dedicated to the organization’s mission. Our board members champion the importance of creative activism and the value of …
Announcing: Revolutionizing Activism: FEASTS
JOIN US FOR THE INGREDIENTS TO SUCCESS JOIN US ON SEPTEMBER 15th | 12 PM EST | Livestream via YouTube Food is a universal language. Yet it’s also deeply embedded in unique and diverse cultural expression. Perhaps, this is part of what has made it possible for activists to use food and feasts in radical …
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We’re Back! Revolutionizing Activism Season 2
Revolutionizing Activism is back with a new lineup of conversations featuring activists, advocates, and artists challenging traditional approaches to advocacy! WE’RE BACK!!!!! You asked for it, and we brought it back! We launched our new discussion series Revolutionizing Activism late last year for artists, activists, and advocates to come together and dig into tried and …
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Announcing: Revolutionizing Activism: PARTIES
I PARTIED TILL THE WORLD CHANGED JOIN US ON AUGUST 25th | 12 PM EST | Riverside.fm London. Tbilisi. San Juan. Berlin. These are just a few places around the world where organizers have used parties as their main site of protest. In movements for reproductive rights, the decriminalization of drugs, and human rights–parties have …
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Towards an International Research Co-Lab on Artistic Activism
Last week we held a second meeting to give shape to what we are calling an international research collaboratory (co-lab) on artistic activism. This is an initiative bringing together researchers from the Aoteroa/New Zealand, China, Denmark, Peru, Senegal, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Our collective objective is to generate a …
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Video + Takeaways – How to Know If It’s Working
Asking if you can have impact using digital advocacy is like asking if you can have impact using the telephone. Digital advocacy is a tool – it’s not a strategy in itself. Liba Beyer We have big dreams and ideas, and we go after them. We want to know that what we’re doing is making …
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Revolutionizing Activism: How Do We Know It Works?
Have you heard about the Center for Artistic Activism Secret Sauce? Well, if you’re wondering whether creative activism works, or challenged by what it even means for creative activism to work then you’re in luck – at the next edition of Revolutionizing Activism on May 26th at 12pm EST we’re sharing the secret sauce behind …
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Hiring: Creative Activism Communications Intern
* * DEADLINE EXTENDED to Monday, June 6th at 11:59 pm * * We’re hiring! — We’re looking for an intern to help with creative activism research and outreach this summer. The intern will help our teams tell the stories of incredible creative advocacy projects from around the world. They’ll dig in our archives, research …
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Hiring: Graphic Designer
* * DEADLINE EXTENDED to Monday, June 6th at 11:59 pm * * We’re hiring! — We’re looking for a talented, experienced, fun and experimental graphic designer to work with us on an ongoing and flexible basis as a contractor. We have various design projects that we’d love some design help with, based on our …
Video + Takeaways – How to Strengthen the Vision of Your Advocacy
Activism, amongst other things, involves being willing to bring ideas to people on an unsolicited basis when they’re not necessarily asking for it? So, what happens when you bring the future to them? Stuart Candy At the latest edition of Revolutionizing Activism: The Power of Utopia, Stuart Candy (Berggruen Fellow at the University of Southern …
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Revolutionizing Activism: The Power of Utopia
To be an effective activist you need to: Get specific! No. Think big! So, which one is it? Well. Both! Activism often benefits from working towards “small” and concrete goals. Especially when seemingly localized campaigns like the call for DC Statehood can have a great impact on the entire country. Yet whether legislative or policy-oriented, …
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State Violence & Desensitizing Dummies
A presentation and panel discussion exploring the problematic nature of the “Rubber Dummy” in the context of history, psychology and perspective of the firearms owning community. Featuring:Dr. Tony Jackson – Neuropsychologist and part of the leadership team of the Association of Black Psychologists. Mikail Ali – President of the Greater Bay Area Chapter of the …
Video + Takeaways – 3 Tips for Humorous Creative Activism
At the latest edition of Revolutionizing Activism: Using Humor When Things Are Dire, Caty Borum Chattoo (Center for Media and Social Impact/ Yes, And… Laughter Lab) kicked off our discussion by underscoring the significance of humor across cultures and histories. Borum Chatoo notes: we find comedy in the most oppressive conditions over and over again, precisely …
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BIG NEWS: Center for Artistic Activism Receives Transformational Funding!
The Center for Artistic Activism is excited to announce that we’ve been awarded a $1.9 million, multi-year grant from philanthropist Andrea Soros Colombel to support our expansive Unstoppable Voters program, bolstering our efforts to make voting accessible, safe, joyful, powerful and irresistible. To date, we’ve helped over 40 organizations and over 300 individuals in the …
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Revolutionizing Activism: Using Humor When Things Are Dire
Hi there – had a good laugh today? If you’re reading this just after checking the news, laughing might be hard to imagine. But humor can be critical, especially when times are dire. Here’s a joke from our resident 10 year old, Sam:A guy walks into a bar.There’s a long line for punch.That’s the punch …
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Chase the Erase
With the soul of voting in Pennsylvania on the line, Chase the Erase catalyzed the fight for fair districts, creating a raucous, dual-city street theater action across Pennsylvania in October 2021. In Chase the Erase, a Center for Artistic Activism Unstoppable Voters project, colorful characters like “Gerry Mander” and “Phil E. Buster” battled to see …