A Year of Unstoppable Voters

25 projects. 100 passionate people trained. And millions reached with creativity, humor, and hope: all to protect the freedom to vote. In August 2020, the Center for Artistic Activism put out an open call for creative, strategic, risk-taking projects to support voters and voting in the coming US elections. Within one week we received over …

Federico Hewson

here’s socially engaged art, there’s socially engaged business, and there can also be socially engaged horticulture; flowers working for different social issues, whether that’s fundraising or awareness or development. Federico Hewson is a writer, curator, and activist currently based in Berlin, Germany. Hewson is the creator of the Valentine Peace Project and an advocate for …

No Longer Interested

In 2014, Center Co-Director Steve Lambert was asked to contribute to A Blade of Grass’ ‘Growing Dialogue‘, a series of practitioner-led articles and opinion pieces circling around questions of the affect and effect of art and social practice. Steve’s contribution was No Longer Interested, which you can read below… No Longer Interested I’ve worked to strike …

School for Creative Activism in Berlin – THE MOVIE!

In October 2015, in collaboration with Transgender Europe (TGEU) and funded by Open Society Foundations, we travelled to Berlin to carry out a School for Creative Activism Workshop with trans-activists and artists from across Europe. From 8-11 October, we worked with 17 participants from 13 European countries, developing a creative activism campaign to mark some …

Andrew Boyd

“I think there is something affirming of our humanity in culture – in the community building side of things. A connective tissue, quilting all of us together and creating meaning as you strive for these outcomes. That is different from operational politics – when you’re just trying to do turn out or get numbers or …

Avram Finkelstein

“That’s the thing about history, you know, history is capital. The reason why I think the distinctions are worth knowing about is while communal responses, political responses, like ACT UP are incredibly valuable and noteworthy, there’s also power in the individual voice. It was six gay men, who had no idea that they were surrounded …

Guerilla Girls on Colbert!

The anonymous feminist art collective Guerrilla Girls appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Wednesday night and talked about gender inequality in the art world. The collective is known for wearing gorilla masks and using the names of deceased female artists as monikers. Kathe, Zubeida, and Frida were the members that spoke with Colbert. …

School for Creative Activism: Berlin Participants Announced

Hallo! Wie geht es dir? We’re good, thanks for asking, and we’re in Berlin about to start our latest School for Creative Activism – This time we’re working on Advocacy Campaigns to Support Trans Activism in Europe, supported by Open Society Foundations.  We’ve got an incredible group of activists, artists and organizers who are taking …

We Take Over the Perceiving Freedom Sculpture in Cape Town

Working with several advocates for the decriminalization of sex work, we took over the controversial sculpture “Perceiving Freedom” in Cape Town. The action was the culmination of our School for Creative Activism workshop in Cape Town. Selected Press This is Africa – Sex Workers Protest African Seer – Sex At the Specs – Sex Workers …

Steve’s Super Hero Exercise

Here’s a great exercise to help realize your inner superhero! Super Hero Exercise Curriculum by Steve Lambert Introduction The purpose of this exercise is to help young and old discover: they have things they care about they want to communicate to others art is a form of communication as artists, they have a unique power …

ACTIPEDIA REVISITED: THE PINK CHADDI CAMPAIGN

It’s International Women’s Day! So this week, we’re taking a look at a really powerful piece of collective creative activism that managed to have a real material impact on a very troubling and potentially violent situation. The Pink Chaddi Campaign was an action devised by the “Consortium of Pub-going, Loose, and Forward Women” (PLFW) in …

Coming Soon: The Pop Culture Salvage Expeditions

A monthly podcast about the most popular, highest grossing, mainstream culture. How we can use all that bad stuff for good? In each episode an an academic, an activist, and an artist from the Center for Artistic Activism will help navigate through the garbage looking for treasure. Coming soon, subscribe now and don’t miss a …

ACTIPEDIA REVISITED: WOMEN ON WAVES

So this week we’re doffing our caps to the work of Women on Waves, who worked with our good friends at Yes Lab to create the www.diesalforwomen.com website ‘Misopolis’, a fabricated fashion brand which claimed to provide free abortion pills to its female workers in order to set them free and to create a fun …

ACTIPEDIA REVISITED: McDONALD’s VIDEOGAME

This week we’re taking a look at the McDonald’s Videogame, where you own and operate a McDonald’s restaurant. In the game you have the choice to try to operate ethically or make decisions like using genetically modified soy or administering bovine growth hormone. If you go the ethical route, you bankrupt the company and lose. The …

ACTIPEDIA REVISITED: PRINCESS HIJAB

‘My art has nothing to do with religion.’ This week we’re throwing the spotlight on the guerilla street art of Princess Hijab. Princess Hijab détournes advertising in public spaces: superimposing black veils onto the iconography of popular culture. ‘The Hijab is very powerful, not just religiously. It has been used in fairytales. It is part of the …

ACTIPEDIA REVISTED: PRO-CHOICE TROLLING

From the vaults of Actipedia this week we’re looking at a subtle way of subverting your local store to do your messaging for you! When Hobby Lobby, the US craft store, filed a lawsuit against a federal mandate requiring employers to provide insurance coverage for contraceptives Jasmine Shea and Nathaniel Peck decided to take action. …