ART IS CHANGE: Strategies & Skills for Activist Artists & Cultural Organizers

• 155: Why Are Humility & Failure Essential to Art and Social Change Success?

  This episode digs into one of the trickiest—and most revealing—corners of community-based arts work: the way humility and failure shape everything we do, from a 12-line role in Richard II to a city-wide public-art firestorm.Leni Sloan, Barbara Shaffer Bacon and Bill Cleveland tumble into stories that peel back the glossy surface of “successful” arts practice:the actor with decades of experience learning cadence from an 18-year-old, the choreographer who turned military restrictions into creative fuel, the prison poet who left a Broadway star speechless. And threaded through it all is this question: how do we stay porous enough—humble enough—to learn what the work is actually teaching us?Together they talk about the kind of failure that doesn’t end a project but opens it—cracks the thing apart so the next, truer version can breathe. And they remind us that in this art-and-community dance, no one is ever done learning, not even the masters.Listen in as we explore why humility is not soft, and failure is not fatal—they’re simply part of the craft. And stick around: the next episode asks the big follow-up question—what responsibility do we carry for sustaining access to creative resources once communities have experienced their transformative power?To donate to Spoon Jackson's Fund: Use this Venmo account @Cheryl-Cotterill or send a check to:Cheryl CotterillAttorney at Law1770 Post Street #207San Francisco, CA 94115NOTABLE MENTIONSPeopleLeni SloanActor, director, community-arts practitioner, and co-conversationalist in this episode, reflecting on humility, failure, and learning within community-engaged art. Barbara Schaffer BaconCo-director of Animating Democracy and long-time leader in arts-based community development; contributes insight into constraints, ethics, and readiness in community practice. Lori WooleryDirector formerly with Cornerstone Theater Company and a leader of community-based productions at The Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park. Liz LermanChoreographer, educator, and founder of the Dance Exchange, known for pioneering community-based performance projects including The Shipyard Project. Robert FrostPoet quoted for the line “Freedom is riding easy in the harness,” used here to illuminate creative constraint. M.C. RichardsPotter, writer, and philosopher known for her disciplined practice of smashing imperfect pots—a metaphor for artistic rigor and humility. F. Murray AbrahamAward-winning actor involved in the Broadway production of Waiting for Godot, who visited San Quentin and sought insight from incarcerated actor Spoon Jackson. Spoon JacksonPoet, educator, and long-incarcerated artist whose work in Arts-in-Corrections and...

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• 154: What are the Moral & Ethical Challenges Facing Activist Artists & Cultural Organizers?

  Budgets frozen. Institutions wobbling. Political earthquakes everywhere. In the middle of all that, many artists and cultural workers are stepping straight into the messy moral world of community change.This episode is the fourth in our special series where we're unpacking the building blocks of effective art and social change practice, This episode we explore: What happens when “good intentions” aren’t enough?What do we owe the communities we hope to serve?And how does an artist even begin to understand the ethical weight of their presence in places carrying trauma, tension, or long histories of power imbalance?Notable MentionsPeopleBill Cleveland – Host of Art Is Change and Director of the Center for the Study of Art & Community.Leni Sloan – Activist, performer, impresario, and cultural historian.Barbara Schaffer Bacon – Educator, author, and longtime arts-and-democracy leader.Confucius – Philosopher quoted on the cultural health of society.Carol Bebelle – Co-founder of Ashé Cultural Arts Center in New Orleans.Roberta Uno – Director and cultural organizer referenced via Project 2050.Judy Munson – Composer for the series' theme and soundscapes.Andre Neppe – Text editor for the series.OrganizationsCenter for the Study of Art & Community – Producer of Art Is Change.National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) – Federal arts funder.Mid Atlantic Arts – Regional arts funder.Kennedy Center – National cultural institution.Junebug Productions – Community-rooted arts organization.Ashé Cultural Arts Center – Cultural organization founded by Carol Bebelle.UMass Project 2050 – Intergenerational arts and social justice project.Freesound.org – Open-source audio effects platform.EventsPennsylvania Arts Residency Shutdowns – State-level budget freeze causing all residencies to wind down.California Gerrymandering Ballot Vote – Referenced political event affecting democratic institutions.White House East Wing Renovation – Described as symbolic cultural destabilization.Northern Ireland Peace-Sector Encounters – Experiences working in sectarian communities.Prison Songwriting Class – A pivotal ethical moment demonstrating the power of creative work.Publications / TextsConfucian Canon – Referenced philosophically regarding art and society.*******Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of...

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• 153: How Robert Farid Karimi Uses COMEDY & FOOD as a Powerful Strategy for Social Change

  Robert Farid KarimiThe "inbetween" is often ignored. It is also the juicy territory that this week’s guest, comedian, chef, poet, educator, and activist Robert Farid Karimi has been investigating over the last couple of decades. like many of our guests Robert, who is also known as Mero Cocinero, Farid Mercury, the Peoples Chef, and even in some quarters, Betty Crocker's radical heir apparent, is not easily pegged. In the conversation that follows we explore some of the stories, ideas, and questions that animate his work. How can humor become a bridge in a conflict-ridden community? What is the role of the fool and gossip in the post truth era? What can community organizers learn from Mel Brooks and Cheech and Chong. Along the way we hear great stories and have a little fun.Delicious QuotesI feel for people who feel that they themselves are bridges because this, it's not easy work to hold, two sides of earth so that others can cross. A lot of times people they're not appreciating everything it took to keep everybody up.…we say in Spanish, "chesme", gossip. And talking about how immigrants, how we transmit the information, especially when you come from cultures, where the official news is being controlled like Iran and Guatemala, like gossip is powerful. Chesme is powerful. So, I became this bridge by valuing the words of others as truth,Humor to me was never about insulting or bringing others down. Humor for me was always, "How can you lift up the room? We've had a bad day. Why you gotta be a downer?" And I think growing up, that's why I valued it so much. That's why it became part of my toolkit.They brought me in to General Mills, …and had me cooking where the Betty Crocker kitchen ladies cook. They stayed. The women who had worked all day stayed because they wanted to have a good time and laugh. My mother still says that's my best gig I've ever had cause I'm at the home of freaking Betty Crocker.I changed Acting One so that it would incorporate play. I want them to start seeing their bodies as this thing, that's taking it all in and that they are not just actors. They are not just performers they are in the in-between. They are storytellers. And to make these stories, they need to understand their relationship to the system of life. And the final of the classes, they get to make fun of the class. They get to use all the skills to make fun of anything I've done, because the rationale is for me, humor is a great way to show that because you got to know what you know, to make fun of it.I couldn't just walk into a community and go, “I'm going to save you all because I'm a person of color. Who's funny.” No. I had to go back to the kid that was listening, ...to the folks in the community. ..Then I could see how I could be of service.Notable MentionsMero Cocinero, Farid Mercury, the Peoples Chef: Just three of Mr. Karimi's many alter egos.Change the Story / Change the World: This podcast, a Chronicle of Art & Community TransformationAfrika Bambaataa: Lance Taylor (born in April 17, 1957), also known as Afrika Bambaataa (/ˌæfrɪkə...

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• 152: Art, Agency, & Fear: How Artmaking Can Help Crush the MAGA Monsters at the Door

  What if the scariest threat we face isn’t some monster outside—but the quiet, invisible loss of our own power to act?In a world wired to exploit our fear, reclaiming our agency has never been more urgent—or more human. This episode dives deep into how fear hijacks our brains, and how imagination and creativity can reconnect us to each other and to our own capacity for action. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, this is the grounding message you need.Discover why making things—from pots to poems—can literally rewire your brain and restore hope.Learn how shared creativity offers an ancient antidote to the MAGA Fear Machine.Hear why artists and makers are uniquely positioned to help shift us from panic to possibility.Join us as we explore how reclaiming your creative spark can tip the balance from fear to agency—one act of making at a time.Notable Mentions Events / Concepts Fight–Flight–Freeze Response – The brain’s survival-based reaction to fear, narrowing our thinking and heightening stress responses.The Deep State – Used here as a metaphor for politically charged fear narratives in American culture.Zombie Apocalypse – A metaphor representing panic-driven narratives that fuel division and fear.Neuroplasticity – The brain’s ability to rewire itself in response to experiences like storytelling and making art.2. Organizations· The Center for the Study of Art & Community – Producer of Art is Change, the center supports artists and cultural workers in community transformation.Art is Change (Podcast) – A series focused on how arts and imagination intersect with democracy, agency, and resistance.Freesound.org – A collaborative sound library providing many of the podcast’s creative sound effects.3. Publications / Knowledge Resources· Neuroscience of Creativity & Agency – Explains how artistic practice stimulates brain function and fosters resilience.The Amygdala – The brain’s emotional alarm center, highlighted as central to how fear takes hold in the episode.The Prefrontal Cortex – The reasoning part of the brain that gets suppressed under fear-based conditions.Evolutionary Cooperation & Collective Creativity – Scientific support for the idea that group...

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• 151: Should Activist Artists & Cultural Organizers be Running for Office - Tom Tresser Says, "ABSOLUTELY!"

  What if the solution to our democracy’s crisis isn’t another white paper or study—but an artist running for office?In this episode, civic organizer and “public defender” Tom Tresser reveals why he feels America’s nonprofit and creative sectors are missing in action when it comes to power, policy, and public trust. As arts funding shrinks and disinformation grows, Tom challenges creatives to stop “staying in their lane” and instead step up as leaders in civic life.In it we’ll: • Learn how a small, unfunded coalition stopped the 2016 Olympics from coming to Chicago—and why that matters for creative change agents everwhere • We’ll also Discover why Tom thinks creative people are uniquely qualified to solve society’s most funky problems—and how artistic skills and political strategies are cut from the same clothAnd inspired by a radical, hopeful model for building civic power from the ground up, rooted in creative intelligence, story making, and community action.Notable MentionsThe 100K Project: Tom Tresser's initiative that seeks to train, and propel 100,000 people from the arts, nonprofit, social services, education, and science sectors (and their supporters) to run for local office or help those with our values run as champions of service, science, justice, equity, peace, creativity, and the public sector.PeopleBill Cleveland: Host of Art Is Change and long-time practitioner in arts-based community development and civic storytelling.Tom Tresser: Chicago civic organizer, public defender of the public sector, and co-founder of No Games Chicago.Richard M. Daley: Former Chicago mayor behind the 2016 Olympic bid effort.Barack Obama: Then–senator and later president who supported Chicago’s Olympic bid.Sam Zell: Billionaire and owner of the Chicago Tribune, a supporter of the Olympic bid.Senator Jesse Helms: Conservative senator known for attacks on the NEA.Pat Robertson: Christian Coalition founder and major force in culture-war politics.Andres Serrano: Artist whose work Piss Christ became central to NEA controversies.The NEA Four: Performance artists whose denied NEA grants fueled national censorship debate.Frederick Douglass: Abolitionist and civic educator cited as a model for grassroots truth-telling.Paul Wellstone: U.S. senator whose “organize–advocate–run” triangle influences...

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