Every day, artists and activists around the world are using creativity to shift culture, challenge injustice, and build a more just and joyful future. At the Center for Artistic Activism, we help make that happen through training, mentorship, and support for bold, strategic, imaginative campaigns. This 45-second video captures the energy and impact of that …
Category Archives: News
From idea to impact: Watch what your support makes possible
LoudLight is a scrappy advocacy group in Kansas. A few years ago, they asked for our help because a vote was coming up that threatened Kansan’s right to abortion. LoudLight wanted to encourage young people to get involved, and the stakes were high. The vote was happening right after the Supreme Court had overturned Roe …
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Dreaming to Doing. Let’s Launch the Lab!
Over my years at C4AA, one of the wonderful people I’ve had the pleasure of working with is Arian Kajtezović, a trans rights activist from the Balkans. In talking to Arian recently, they said that C4AA’s approach allowed them to imagine “little worlds of our own that are magical, where you are allowed to dream.” …
Make it make cents
It started with clowns in lab coats. Outside a major hospital in Barcelona, activists staged a carnival: a rigged Wheel of Fortune, unwinnable shell games, and pharma execs as the only real “winners.” It looked like a prank. But it was a protest. They were calling out the outrageous price of hepatitis C treatment, and …
Fuel the Future of Artistic Activism – This Spring!
Let’s make it possible. Together. Right now, the world doesn’t need more fear. It needs more vision. More joy. More community-rooted campaigns that actually work. That’s what we do at the Center for Artistic Activism, and this spring, we’re fundraising the next wave of bold, strategic, creative activism. Why Now? Across the world, people are …
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Here it is… the final secret to effective campaigns
Dragons, donuts, horse masks, whale kites, rainbow socks, mailbox costumes, witches! These are just some of the weird and whimsical ways folks in our community have been effectively advocating for change. Because these aren’t just spectacles to draw attention – they’re part of creative campaigns designed to motivate people towards action. But let’s get real: …
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Teaching Creativity to Inspire Social Good
A special event to spark innovative ideas for your civic engagement work Join us Thursday, April 17, 2025 from 4:30-5:15 pm ET as we partner with Project Pericles for an uplifting webinar about how creativity is a powerful tool for civic engagement and inspiring social good. Hear from faculty about how they’ve used innovative creative …
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The 2nd Secret to Creative Winning Campaigns
We’re here to help. Our mission at the Center is to provide clear and useful guidance to the many of you who are planning campaigns and actions to work towards justice and democracy. Our specialty is in training and exercises that lead to wins because they are based on research on how people are moved …
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The Number One Secret to Making Change Happen
If you’re like many of us, you’re feeling like it’s time to get active. Whether you’re building a national advocacy campaign, working to keep your local school system welcoming of diversity and inclusion, or organizing your friends to call your representatives, it’s a great time to build the most creative, effective campaigns. We want to …
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Back in Stock: The Art of Activism
A few years ago, we set out to create something that didn’t exist. A guide bridging the gap between creativity and activism, blending art’s ability to inspire with strategy’s power to create real change. That vision became The Art of Activism: Your All-Purpose Guide to Making the Impossible Possible. Since its release, we’ve seen it in …
Turn protests into parties
I’ve been thinking a lot about protests and parties. The other day I got an email promoting a protest that said, “It’ll be an absolute blast—just kidding!” It struck me that there are more effective and positive ways to get someone to a protest (or anywhere). Something we focus on in our workshops is getting …
We hold these truths
I got the email last week: the National Endowment for the Arts is canceling its funding for art in underfunded communities. I was dismayed and outraged. In fact, they’re stopping most of their arts grants. All except for projects that celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. WTF? This laughably limited …
I can’t fight everything, so I focus on this
Lately, I’ve been feeling the weight of everything happening around us. The endless policies, executive orders, and appointments are designed to make us feel hopeless, to make us give up. For a long time, I thought I had to keep up with everything, and when I couldn’t, I felt guilty. But I’ve learned something: I …
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Creativity is critical when times are tough
These days, it can feel hard to feel creative. There’s so much being thrown at us, so much overwhelm and unease and downright disaster. How can you come up with new, effective ideas to inspire your community to do the work that needs to be done? In January, our Co-Founder and Artistic Director Steve Lambert …
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The Ministry of Love will save you now
REMEMBER: Feelings of overwhelm and isolation are a strategy leveraged by those seeking unchecked power. They want apathy. We counter this with joy and togetherness. This idea keeps coming up – let me go back… I’ve been thinking about a conversation I had with some friends about a key to successful organizing, even when you’re feeling beat …
Inspire, Guide, and Innovate
At the Center for Artistic Activism, we know that progress is always possible — even in challenging times. 2024 left many people feeling burnt out and done. But 2024 is over! Bye! Welcome to 2025, when we’re as committed as ever to working hard with you to keep advancing social justice worldwide. Our 2024 programs …
Annual Report 2024
Welcome to our 2024 Annual Report! Our 2024 Annual Report is one chapter in a longer story of artistic activism. The Report includes a summary of what we’ve done in 2024, including Unstoppable Voters programs around the country, support for civic organizations, higher education staff, and artists, activists and researchers around the world. It gives …
Our Observer Phase
What we’re reading, watching, listening to, and thinking about at the Center for Artistic Activism in the aftermath of the 2024 U.S. Election In our workshops, we teach our view of the Creative Process. It’s four phases that we’re constantly running through in a cycle: In the aftermath of the 2024 U.S. election, we are …
We’re ready for the work ahead
It wouldn’t hurt this badly if we didn’t care this much. Remember that we are worth fighting for. We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for. It’s never going to be a candidate or an elected official. It’s always going to be us. Standing with and for each other. Despair is the ultimate tool of authoritarianism. …
Protect our Freedoms, our Families, and our Futures
With a little help from our friends at the ACLU Voters Decide. Tomorrow is Election Day in the U.S. We’ve been working hard to support voters and protect the freedom to vote, along with so many amazing voting champions. But of course there are bad actors out there who have been working with the opposite …
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