Our Rationale

There is an art to every practice, activism included. It’s what distinguishes the innovative from the routine, the elegant from the mundane. One thing that can help the “art of activism” is applying an artistic aesthetic tactically, strategically, and organizationally.  Throughout history, the most effective political actors have married the arts with campaigns for social change.  While Martin Luther King Jr is now largely remembered for his example of moral courage, social movement historian Doug McAdam’s estimation of King’s “genius for strategic dramaturgy,” likely better explains the success of his campaigns. The practice of artistic activism has only accelerated in recent times, as savvy organizers learn to use the increasingly mediated political terrain of signs and symbols, stories and spectacles to their advantage. From Jesus’ parables to the Tea Party’s protests, working artfully makes activism effective.

Until now there has not been a singular space to share, discuss and analyze tactics and strategies of artistic activism, nor has their been a nodal point to link up the myriad groups and individuals who stress cultural creativity in their civic engagement. There has not been a place where researchers across a range of disciplines can gather to share their investigations and their challenges, a place where skilled practitioners in artistic activism can share their expertise and cultivate new tactics through cross-discplinary collaboration. The Center for Artistic Activism fills this important need.

Projects run by the CAA include the College of Tactical Culture, a think-tank of artists, activists, designers and attorneys funded by and held at the Eyebeam Center for Art and Technology in the Summer of 2009, and the School for Creative Activism, a training program for grassroots activists, funded by the Open Society Foundations and hosted in North Carolina and New York in the Spring of 2011.