Engaged Art in 2021: A Practical Guide
“Nothing is going to remain the way it is. Let us, in the present, study the past, so as to invent the future.”
—Augusto Boal, Theatre of the Oppressed
The first weeks of 2021 have proven that calendars don’t create change, we can no longer rely on regime changes to protect us, and doomscrolling is today’s heroin.
We want to work for change as artists. We talk about it all the time. But the slippery part is, how? What can we do? How do we do it?
That’s what we’re here to talk about today. What practical steps can we as artists make to affect real change in 2021?
This practical guide addresses how the work for change begins with the self before broadening its focus to the community and beyond. Art does not change societies all at once. It changes individuals. Individuals change communities. Communities change societies.
Step 1: Take Care of Yourself
This isn’t an argument for selfishness; it’s a reminder to put on your own oxygen mask before assisting others.
Ask For Help
Reach out to friends when you’re feeling overwhelmed or you find yourself falling into unhealthy reactive behaviors. Reinforce the importance of taking breaks from the news, of staying safe, of being responsible in communication. Remind each other to practice self care. And, most importantly, listen to each other.
Get Grounded
Get out of your head. So much of what paralyzes us with fear is constructed and propagated by our thoughts. An event like the Capitol insurrection is genuinely frightening and enraging. But it is the replaying of it in our minds that distracts us, sends us reaching for the phone to check the news, and throws so much confusion and circular thought at us that sometimes we can’t move forward in reasoned, non-reactive ways (yes, we all must react now, but we must react with purpose for it to be more than screaming into the vacuum).
Move. Meditate. Put your hands in water. Touch things, do breathing exercises, go for walks. Practice the 5-4-3-2-1 method. Anything to reconnect you with your body and your surroundings.
These things quiet disturbing thoughts and bring you back to yourself — which is where you need to be to create and to act responsibly as a citizen.
Practice Strategic Divestment
In a recent episode of the 10 Percent Happier Podcast about meditating in a crisis, Lama Rod Owens talked about the importance of protecting your energy by controlling where you put it. Host Dan Harris, who lives in constant fear of sounding too “woo-woo” rephrased it as “Strategic Divestment.”
Does my energy today need to be pointed toward arguing with a former high school classmate on Facebook about the origins of fascism? Does my energy need to be invested in sharing memes, mindlessly scrolling Instagram, obsessively reading every frightening article on armed militias and white supremacists?
Or, rather, do I need to reserve that energy for myself, my family, my work, my community? If I strategically divest my time/energy portfolio, investing less in doomscrolling or mindless distraction and more in focus, work and practical compassion in my community, I’ll feel better and do better work.
Step 2: Take Care of Others
While I work on myself (it’s a never-ending process), I can be available for others — while practicing healthy boundaries.
Friends & Family
Begin with your immediate circle. Be fully present. Practice unconditional love. Listen first. Ask whether they want advice or just a friendly ear. Be willing to say “I don’t know” and “I was wrong.”
Your Community
This is where the world-changing practice of engaged art begins. What can I do in my city? Can I engage with community organizations, food pantries, human rights organizations? How might my work help?
In Nashville, Marlos E’Van and other other artists painted the Nashville Community Fridge refrigerators. Tomorrow Girls Troop conducts social art projects in their communities throughout East Asia to promote feminism. The Canadian/German theatre group Mammalian Diving Reflex builds interactive work in which audiences interact with young people, both empowering the children and broadening social dialogue. A favorite of mine is Haircuts by Children.
Having trouble finding places or coming up with ideas? The Laundromat Project, which is an awesome group dedicated to making artists and neighbors change agents in their own communities has an excellent Resource Library that includes helpful information on everything from White Savior narratives and Embodied Trauma to Queering Fat Embodiment and The Role of Art in a Time of Crisis.
Support Other Artists
Buy art, buy music, attend those Zoom readings. Get to know the artists in your community.
Be A Mentor
This is one of the most powerful ways any artist can create positive social change. ArtCorps and Volunteer Match are great places to begin. Focus on the young people in your community. They’re the ones who will build what the world looks like next.
Step 3: Going Bigger
First, look at what other artists are already doing. Remember you want to contribute, not co-opt. Continue to be politically and civically active — keep volunteering for phone banks and letter writing campaigns, keep up with your local and state government. Democracy never runs on autopilot.
We all want to do something that feels like it makes a major impact. We must remember that major impacts are made of small impacts. Representative Andy Kim staying at the Capitol until 3 a.m to clean the rotunda is as important an act as any anti-totalitarian piece by Ai Weiwei.
Anish Kapoor donated the $1M from the Genesis Prize to refugees. But you don’t have to be a major artists with major grants to help. Nashville’s Brooke Gillon donates a percentage of her pottery sales to organizations like Gideon’s Army as a part of her personal reparations work.
RESOURCES
The Guardian recently published What to Expect from U.S. Artists in 2021 that can provide both inspiration and ideas. (I particularly love The Plywood Protection Project, which reclaims the plywood used to board up windows during protests and uses it to create public art.)
The Center for Artistic Activism is an incredibly valuable resource.
Art Making Change has a Resource Library with helpful links for professional development and designing projects with impact.
Again, The Laundromat Project and its Resource Library
The Black School is a fantastic model for how to blend art, activism and education in a powerful way
In 2017, the Huffington Post asked Can Art Really Make a Difference?
Artwork Archive recommends 5 ways an artist can make a difference right now
Check out Mary Schmidt Campbell’s book Artistic Citizenship: A Public Voice for the Arts
Engaged art begins with me and with my community. It begins with us. With hope, engaged art can help everyone understand that, at the end of the day, that’s all there is … us.
