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

This episode and next will tell the story my time with Breaking Ice and share what I learned about the program's evolution and history, its impact, and its innovative approach helping workplaces large and small "cultivate courageous dialogue around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion.

Noël Raymond holds an MFA in Acting from the University of Minnesota and a BFA from Ithaca College in New York. She currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Multicultural Development Center and the Burning House Group Theatre Company which she co-founded in 1993. She is also a company member of Carlyle Brown and Company. She has taught acting classes and theatre movement in multiple settings to children, college students and adults with developmental disabilities. Noël is an Equity actor who has performed with Pillsbury House Theatre, the Burning House Group, the Guthrie Theater, Penumbra Theatre, Bryant Lake Bowl, and Minnesota Festival Theatres in Minnesota as well as the Hangar Theatre in New York. Noël’s directing credits include Underneath the Lintel, An Almost Holy Picture, Far Away, Angels in America: Parts I and II, and [sic] at Pillsbury House Theatre, From Shadows to Light at Theatre Mu, The BI Show with MaMa mOsAiC, and multiple staged readings and workshops through the Playwrights’ Center, among others. Noël has served on numerous panels including TCG/American Theatre, the Minnesota State Arts Board, the Playwright’s Center and United Arts, to name a few.

Kurt Kwan has been creating performances and facilitating dialogues around issues of Diversity and Inclusion with the Breaking Ice company since 2001. He also manages the Late Nite and Naked Stages programs. As an actor he has performed with Ten Thousand Things, The Walker, Childrens Theatre Company, Mu Performing Arts, New York Asian American Writers, The History Theatre, and Theatre La Homme Dieu.

DEI programs: Diversity, equity, and inclusion (usually abbreviated DEI) refers to organizational frameworks which seek to promote "the fair treatment and full participation of all people", particularly groups "who have historically been underrepresented or subject to discrimination" on the basis of identity or disability.[1]

Barnes Jewish Hospital is the largest hospital in the U.S. state of Missouri. Located in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, it is the adult teaching hospital for the Washington University School of Medicine and a major component of the Washington University Medical Center. In 2022, Barnes-Jewish was named one of the top twenty hospitals in the United States by U.S. News & World Report in its annual ranking.[1][2]

Pillsbury House and Theater.  is a groundbreaking “new model for human service work that recognizes the power of the arts and culture to stimulate community participation, investment and ownership.” This is the first of two PH+T chapters. 

Here are links to Chapter 1, and Chapter 2 of our episodes on Pillsbury’s history a and a Bonus Episode: Lorraine Hansberry at Pillsbury House - Theatre - Gifted & Black 

Pillsbury United Communities Beginning in 1879 with Minneapolis’s first settlement house, Pillsbury United Communities co-creates enduring change toward a just society. Built with and for historically marginalized and underinvested groups across our community, our united system of programs, neighborhood centers, and social enterprises connects more than 55,000 individuals and their families each year. We are guided by a vision of thriving communities where every person has personal, social, and economic power.

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Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.

Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.

Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for artists, while celebrating the role of artists in residence and creative leadership in shaping a more just and inclusive world. Whether you’re an emerging or established artist for social justice, this podcast offers inspiration, practical advice, and a sense of solidarity in the journey toward art and social change.

In Episode 71, Dominic Campbell talked about the community building power of Caribbean Carnival and working with cutting edge brain science at the Global Brain Health Institute. In this episode, Dominic Campbell explores questions like: What roles can artists can play at the intersection of science, healthcare, and policymaking? What conditions support radical collaborative thinking and design? And how can artists help scientists communicate with the real world, or as Dominic puts it “lab to table.”

Dominic Campbell is the originator and co-leader of Creative Aging International. As Ireland's Bealtaine Festival’s Director he steered the festivals growth and expansion over eight years. Formerly an Artistic Director of Ireland’s national celebration, St Patrick’s Festival, he transformed its three shows into ninety within four years growing production and managerial teams alongside the financial support required.

 Dominic went on to design and produce national celebrations marking the expansion of European Union in 2004 and Centenary celebrations for James Joyce. For “The Day Of Welcomes” marking EU expansion, he devised and produced 12 simultaneous festivals pairing EU expansion countries with Irish towns and cities engaging 2,500 artists from 32 countries.

He mentored festivals in Wales (Gwanwynn), Scotland (Luminate), and has developed projects with partners in Australia and The Netherlands. In 2012 he established the first global conference on Creativity In Older Age opened by Irish President Michael D Higgins. 

In 2016 he became an inaugural Atlantic Fellow for Equity and Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute a project between Trinity College Dublin and University College Southern California an ambitious worldwide program seeking social and public health solutions to reduce the scale and adverse impact of dementia.

Recognized by The Irish Times as one of the top ten key cultural influencers in Ireland he seeks strategic and business partners to develop Creative Aging International.

Change the Story Collection: Creative Aging: In the rapidly growing creative care field, the arts are increasingly seen as a powerful and effective prescription for reducing isolation, healing, trauma, promoting vital and essential social connections, mitigating, and delaying the symptoms of dementia, and also changing the way we all think about aging. The artists in this collection are working communities, healthcare facilities, and laboratories to advance new insights and ideas about creative aging alongside neuroscientists, public health professionals, architects, journalists, economists, psychologists, educators, and other artists

Global Brain Health Institute: The Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) is dedicated to protecting the world’s aging populations from threats to brain health. “We strive to improve brain health for populations across the world, reaching into local communities and across our global network. GBHI brings together a powerful mix of disciplines, professions, backgrounds, skills, perspectives, and approaches to develop new science-based solutions. “

The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health: The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health program at GBHI provides innovative training, networking, and support to emerging leaders focused on improving brain health and reducing the impact of dementia in their local communities and on a global scale. It is one of seven global Atlantic Fellows programs to advance fairer, healthier, and more inclusive societies.

Veronica Rojas: Veronica was a guest on Change the Story / Change the World in April of 2023. She has shown her work nationally and internationally. She has been a Visual Aid Grant recipient and has been nominated to The Eureka Fellowship Grant and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. In 2011 Veronica got the Jerome Caja Terrible Beauty Award. Veronicas’ paintings have been reviewed in Artweek Magazine, Bay Area Express, Metro Active and the TV program Latin Eyes. Currently, Veronica is an Atlantic Fellow for Brain Health and Equity at the Global Brain Health Institute.

Barbara Steveni: was the co-founder and director of the Artist Placement Group (APG), which ran from the 1960s to the 1990s. The APG's goal was to refocus art outside galleries and museums. It instead installed artists in industrial and government organizations to both learn about and to have a voice in these worlds and then, where possible, organize exhibitions of work related to those experiences. Its work was a key precursor of the now widely-applied artist in residency concept.

Kunle Adewale is an artist by profession and a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife Nialegeria with specialization in painting and art history. He studied Civic Leadership from Tulane University, New Orleans and Arts in Medicine, from University of Florida. With over a decade experience as an artist and educationist, Kunle founded Tender Arts Nigeria in 2013, a social enterprise and non-profit making organization which positively impacts children, youth and adult population with focus on therapeutic arts, art education, talent development, community development and civic engagement.  

Augustin Ibanez Agustín is a psychologist, trained on electrophysiology at the Max Plank Institute for Brain Research. He received his PhD in psychology and neuroscience and performed a postdoc on neuroscience at University of Heidelberg. Now he is director of the Cognitive Neuroscience Center and dean of the behavioral sciences undergraduate program at Universidad San Andres (Argentina), full professor at Universidad Adolfo Ibanez (Chile), and co-director of the Dementia Research Latin American Consortium (ReDLat).

Creative Brain Week: Creative Brain Week 2023 – online and in person events which explored and celebrated how brain science and creativity collide to seed new ideas in social development, technology, entrepreneurship, wellbeing and physical, mental and brain health across the life cycle. This annual pioneering event illustrates innovation at the intersection of arts and brain science, including creative approaches to health.

Xerox PARC (Palo alto Research Center), PARC (Palo Alto Research Center; formerly Xerox PARC) is a research and development company in Palo Alto, California.[2][3][4] Founded in 1969 by Jacob E. "Jack" Goldman, chief scientist of Xerox Corporation, the company was originally a division of Xerox, tasked with creating computer technology-related products and hardware systems.[1][5]

Liz Lerman: Change the Story Episode 63-& Episode 64 Wicked Bodies

Pillsbury House and Theater; Change the Story Episode 55

Rowena Richie's work draws from her eclectic background in modern dance, improvisation, music, drawing, and writing. Her production, Lost and Found in the Mission, presented a cross-section of humanity as defined by handwritten scraps of paper she and co-creator Susie Hara found on the streets of San Francisco’s Mission District, where Rowena has lived since 2001. Lost and Found won Best Ensemble Performance at the 2008 SF Fringe Festival. Rowena has worked with the Erika Chong Shuch Performance Project for the past 15 years. In 2011, under the direction of Chong Shuch, Rowena was featured as Bride Love in Act 3 of Taylor Mac’s The Lily’s Revenge at the Magic Theater. 

Josh Kornbluth Josh tours with his autobiographical monologues, writes and acts in feature films, and writes and hosts the "Citizen Brain" online video series (citizenbrain.org).  

Joan Tronto: is professor of political science at the University of Minnesota,[2] and was previously professor of women's studies and political science at Hunter College and the Graduate School, City University of New York.[3]

Salutogenesis is the study of the origins of health and focuses on factors that support human health and well-being, rather than on factors that cause disease (pathogenesis). More specifically, the "salutogenic model" was originally concerned with the relationship between health, stress, and coping through a study of Holocaust survivors. Despite going through the dramatic tragedy of the holocaust, some survivors were able to thrive later in life. The discovery that there must be powerful health causing factors led to the development of salutogenesis. The term was coined by Aaron Antonovsky[1] (1923-1994), a professor of medical sociology. The salutogenic question posed by Aaron Antonovsky is, "How can this person be helped to move toward greater health?"

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Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.

Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.

Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for artists, while celebrating the role of artists in residence and creative leadership in shaping a more just and inclusive world. Whether you’re an emerging or established artist for social justice, this podcast offers inspiration, practical advice, and a sense of solidarity in the journey toward art and social change.

In this episode international arts and aging leader Dominic Campbell will share his thoughts about some intriguing questions: Can an active creative culture change the scary stories we tell ourselves about getting older? Can large scale festivals help communities find common ground in their work with older citizens? What is creative aging and why is it being embraced by gerontologists, and brain scientists across the planet?

Dominic Campbell is the originator and co-leader of Creative Aging International. As Ireland's Bealtaine Festival’s Director he steered the festivals growth and expansion over eight years. Formerly an Artistic Director of Ireland’s national celebration, St Patrick’s Festival, he transformed its three shows into ninety within four years growing production and managerial teams alongside the financial support required.

Dominic went on to design and produce national celebrations marking the expansion of European Union in 2004 and Centenary celebrations for James Joyce. For “The Day Of Welcomes” marking EU expansion, he devised and produced 12 simultaneous festivals pairing EU expansion countries with Irish towns and cities engaging 2,500 artists from 32 countries.

He mentored festivals in Wales (Gwanwynn), Scotland (Luminate), and has developed projects with partners in Australia and The Netherlands. In 2012 he established the first global conference on Creativity In Older Age opened by Irish President Michael D Higgins.

In 2016 he became an inaugural Atlantic Fellow for Equity and Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute a project between Trinity College Dublin and University College Southern California an ambitious worldwide program seeking social and public health solutions to reduce the scale and adverse impact of dementia.

Recognized by The Irish Times as one of the top ten key cultural influencers in Ireland he seeks strategic and business partners to develop Creative Aging International.

Global Brain Health Institute: The Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) is dedicated to protecting the world’s aging populations from threats to brain health. “We strive to improve brain health for populations across the world, reaching into local communities and across our global network. GBHI brings together a powerful mix of disciplines, professions, backgrounds, skills, perspectives, and approaches to develop new science-based solutions. “

The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health: The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health program at GBHI provides innovative training, networking, and support to emerging leaders focused on improving brain health and reducing the impact of dementia in their local communities and on a global scale. It is one of seven global Atlantic Fellows programs to advance fairer, healthier, and more inclusive societies.

Chuck Feeney is an American businessman and philanthropist who made his fortune as a co-founder of the Hong Kong based Duty Free Shoppers Group. He is the founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies, one of the largest private charitable foundations in the world. Feeney gave away his fortune in secret for many years, until a business dispute resulted in his identity being revealed in 1997.[2] Feeney has given away more than $8 billion.[3]

Veronica Rojas: Veronica was a guest on Change the Story / Change the World in April of 2023. She has shown her work nationally and internationally. She has been a Visual Aid Grant recipient and has been nominated to The Eureka Fellowship Grant and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. In 2011 Veronica got the Jerome Caja Terrible Beauty Award. Veronicas’ paintings have been reviewed in Artweek Magazine, Bay Area Express, Metro Active and the TV program Latin Eyes. Currently, Veronica is an Atlantic Fellow for Brain Health and Equity at the Global Brain Health Institute.

Caribbean Carnival: is the term used in the English speaking world for a series of events, held annually throughout almost the whole year in many Caribbean islands and worldwide.[2]

The Caribbean's carnivals have several common themes, all originating from Trinidad and Tobago Carnival also known as the Mother of Carnival , whose popularity and appeal began well before 1846, and gained global recognition in 1881 with the Canboulay Riots in Port Of Spain.[3] #Trinidad Carnival is based on folklore, culture, religion, and tradition (thus relating to the European use of the word, not amusement rides, as the word "carnival" is often used to mean in American English.

St. Patrick's Festival parade in Dublin, Ireland: The iconic National St. Patrick’s Day Parade returns to the streets of Dublin every March 17, with pageants, marching bands and over a million participants. Through contemporary and traditional Irish arts, culture and heritage, the Festival connects families, friends and communities across Ireland, and Ireland’s global tribe of 80 million.     

Damasio’s Somatic Marker Hypothesis: In economic theory, human decision-making is often modeled as being devoid of emotions, involving only logical reasoning based on cost-benefit calculations.[3] In contrast, the somatic marker hypothesis proposes that emotions play a critical role in the ability to make fast, rational decisions in complex and uncertain situations.[1]

Patients with frontal lobe damage, such as Phineas Gage, provided the first evidence that the frontal lobes were associated with decision-making. Frontal lobe damage, particularly to the vmPFC, results in impaired abilities to organize and plan behavior and learn from previous mistakes, without affecting intellect in terms of working memory, attention, and language comprehension and expression.[4][5]

Bealtaine Festival: Bealtaine is Ireland’s national festival which celebrates the arts and creativity as we age. The festival is run by Age & Opportunity, the leading national development organisation working to enable the best possible quality of life for us all as we age. Age & Opportunity Arts provides opportunities for older people to be more creative more often, to create meaningful participation and representation for all older people in cultural and creative life and to demonstrate and celebrate how our creative potential can improve with age. 

Creative Aging International: “Creative Aging International works creatively with companies, organizations and individuals worldwide developing innovative programs tailored to place and bringing together best practice for thought leadership. Our work transforms for the better how we view and approach aging – as individuals, as artists, as companies, as governments and as societies.”

Joseph Beuys, Social Acupuncture/Social Sculpture: Social sculpture is a theory developed by the artist Joseph Beuys in the 1970s based on the concept that everything is art, that every aspect of life could be approached creatively and, as a result, everyone has the potential to be an artist. Social sculpture united Joseph Beuys’s idealistic ideas of a utopian society together with his aesthetic practice. He believed that life is a social sculpture that everyone helps to shape. Many of Beuys’s social sculptures had political and environmental concerns. 7000 Oaks began in 1982 as a five-year project to plant 7000 trees in Kassel in Germany. It raised many questions about city planning, the future of the environment and social structures. 

David Slater, that was the founder of a company called Entelechy: David has over 30 years experience of working with arts practice and communities. In the late1970s he was supported by the Gulbenkian Foundation to develop a programme of participatory arts for Plymouth Arts Centre. In the 1980’s he was founder Director of the pioneering Rotherhithe Theatre Workshop developing a large estate based participatory theatre programme with young people and their families in north Southwark. Most recently as Director of Entelechy and guest artistic director of London’s Capital Age Festival he conceived and co-delivered The Big Chair Dance at Southbank Centre. David has considerable experience of working collaboratively with organisations in both the arts, social care and health sectors.

Entelechy Arts Ltd: We produce projects which powerfully test the boundaries between art, creativity, care, wellbeing and community. “We believe in the creative power of the individual, and that everyone should have the opportunity to contribute to the creative life of their local community. This richness in sharing stories and experiences of those who can often feel underrepresented, encourages stronger communities, changes perceptions, and ultimately helps people live healthier, happier and more connected lives.

Creative Brain Week: Creative Brain Week is a Global Brain Health Institute innovation at Trinity College Dublin, presented in association with the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) and with support from Creative Ireland and the Atlantic Institute.

Creative Brain Week 2023 – online and in person events which explored and celebrated how brain science and creativity collide to seed new ideas in social development, technology, entrepreneurship, wellbeing and physical, mental and brain health across the life cycle. This annual pioneering event illustrates innovation at the intersection of arts and brain science, including creative approaches to health.

In this episode Veronica Rojas talks about working to advance new insights and ideas about creative aging alongside neurologists, architects, journalists, economists, psychologists, educators, and other artists as a Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute at the University of California, San Francisco. It's quite an adventure.

Veronica Rojas: Veronica Rojas (b. Mexico City, 1973) was born into a multi-cultural family; her father is Mexican and her mother Swedish. Veronica grew up in Mexico City where she was exposed from very early on to the art of Remedios Varo, Leonora Carrington and Frida Kahlo. These artists have ever since remained a big influence in Veronica’s artwork. In 1995 she came to San Francisco, USA, to get a BFA at the San Francisco Art Institute and later an MFA at the California College of the Arts. She currently lives in Oakland, California. Veronica has shown her work nationally and internationally. She has been a Visual Aid Grant recipient and has been nominated to The Eureka Fellowship Grant and the Joan Mitchell Foundation Grant. In 2011 Veronica got the Jerome Caja Terrible Beauty Award. Veronicas’ paintings have been reviewed in Artweek Magazine, Bay Area Express, Metro Active and the TV program Latin Eyes. Currently, Veronica is an Atlantic Fellow for Brain Health and Equity at the Global Brain Health Institute.

Global Brain Health Institute: The Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) is dedicated to protecting the world’s aging populations from threats to brain health. We strive to improve brain health for populations across the world, reaching into local communities and across our global network. GBHI brings together a powerful mix of disciplines, professions, backgrounds, skills, perspectives, and approaches to develop new science-based solutions. 

The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health: program provides innovative training, networking, and support to emerging leaders focused on improving brain health and reducing the impact of dementia.

Creative Growth Center:  Founded in 1974, Creative Growth is a leader in the field of arts and disabilities, establishing a model for a creative community guided by the principle that art is fundamental to human expression and that all people are entitled to its tools of communication. From the first day Creative Growth started in the East Bay home of Elias Katz and Florence Ludins-Katz, the vision was clear. Art would be the path forward for people with disabilities to express themselves and a professional gallery would exhibit their work.

Art With Elders: Founded in 1991, AWE engages older adults in fine arts classes and shares their work and life experience through public exhibits. Through classes and exhibits, the AWE program provides older adults with a vehicle for self-expression, social connection, and a presence in the larger community. Classes are taught in person and online by professional artists and are available in 5 languages. Exhibits engage artists and audiences through the power of creativity, deepening connection between cultures and generations.

Creative Minds UCSF: Established in 2020, Creative Minds is a community arts for brain health initiative in San Francisco. This unique collaboration between the UCSF MAC Community Outreach Program and Atlantic Fellows at GBHI engages older adults in underserved and underrepresented neighborhoods through photography, art, storytelling, movement, and craft-making. Creative Minds partners with community centers and clinics throughout the city to incorporate brain health education and offer these creative experiences informed by the cultural and linguistic needs of our community members.  

Memory Aging Center at UCSF: The UCSF Memory and Aging Center is an NIA-designated Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center working to translate research science into improved diagnosis and care for people with dementia due to Alzheimer's disease and related diseases, as well as to find a treatment or prevention.

Parkinson’s Disease: Parkinson’s disease is a brain disorder that causes unintended or uncontrollable movements, such as shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with balance and coordination.

Symptoms usually begin gradually and worsen over time. As the disease progresses, people may have difficulty walking and talking. 

Alzheimer’s Disease: Alzheimer's disease is the most common type of dementia. It is a progressive disease beginning with mild memory loss and possibly leading to loss of the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to the environment. Alzheimer's disease involves parts of the brain that control thought, memory, and language.

Frontotemporal Dementia: Frontotemporal disorders (FTD), sometimes called frontotemporal dementia, are the result of damage to neurons in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. Many possible symptoms can result, including unusual behaviors, emotional problems, trouble communicating, difficulty with work, or difficulty with walking.

Social Prescribing: Social Prescribing is a holistic approach to healthcare that brings together the social and medical models of health and wellness. It provides a formal pathway for health providers to address the diverse determinants of health, using the familiar and trusted process of writing a prescription.

Social prescribing bridges the gap between clinical and social care by referring patients to local, non-clinical services that are chosen according to the client’s interests, goals, and gifts. It allows doctors, nurse practitioners, and interprofessional health providers to formally refer patients through to community-based programs.

(See Also: What is Social Prescribing, a video, and the Time Magazine article Why Some Doctors Are Prescribing Ballroom Dance or a Day at the Museum)

National Academy for Social Prescribing (United Kingdom) NASP is a national charity that champions social prescribing. We support and connect people, communities and organisations so that more people across the UK can enjoy better health and wellbeing

What is the evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being? A scoping review, A Report of the World Health Organization: Over the past two decades, there has been a major increase in research into the effects of the arts on health and well-being, alongside developments in practice and policy activities in different countries across the WHO European Region and further afield.

This report synthesizes the global evidence on the role of the arts in improving health and well-being, with a specific focus on the WHO European Region. Results from over 3000 studies identified a major role for the arts in the prevention of ill health, promotion of health, and management and treatment of illness across the lifespan.

Anne Basting, our guest for CS/CW Episode 69, is a writer, artist and advocate for the power of creativity to change lives. She is Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and Founder of the award-winning non-profit TimeSlips.org, which trains, inspires, and supports caregivers to infuse creativity into care. Her writing and large-scale public performances have helped shape an international movement to extend creative and meaningful expression from childhood, where it is expected, through to late life, where it has been too long withheld.

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Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.

Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.

Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for artists, while celebrating the role of artists in residence and creative leadership in shaping a more just and inclusive world. Whether you’re an emerging or established artist for social justice, this podcast offers inspiration, practical advice, and a sense of solidarity in the journey toward art and social change.

ANNE BASTING's work at the crossroads of Arts and Aging has allowed her to pioneer new approaches to the challenges faced by our aging population. In this episode we learn how her efforts have helped advance the creative aging approach as a powerful and effective prescription for reducing isolation, promoting social connections, and mitigating a the symptoms of dementia.

Anne Basting is a writer, artist and advocate for the power of creativity to transform our lives. She is Professor of English at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee and Founder of the award-winning non-profit TimeSlips.org, which trains, inspires, and supports caregivers to infuse creativity into care. Her writing and large-scale public performances have helped shape an international movement to extend creative and meaningful expression from childhood, where it is expected, through to late life, where it has been too long withheld.

Her books include Creative Care: A Revolutionary Approach to Elder and Dementia Care (Harper), Penelope: An Arts-based Odyssey to Transform Eldercare (U of Iowa), and Forget Memory: Creating Better Lives for People with Dementia (Johns Hopkins). Internationally recognized for her speaking and her innovative work, Anne is the recipient of a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, and numerous major awards and grants. She believes that creative engagement can and should be infused into every aging care system and has trained/consulted with Meals on Wheels, libraries, home care companies, senior centers, memory cafes, museums, adult day programs, and every level of long-term care.

In 2019, Anne collaborated with a team of artists, elders, and caregivers on her largest project yet – a reimagining of the story of Peter Pan with 12 rural Kentucky nursing homes. She is currently obsessed with growing the memory cafe infrastructure across the United States.

Arts-based community development comes in many flavors: dancers, and painters working with children and youth; poets and potters collaborating with incarcerated artists: cultural organizers in service to communities addressing racial injustice, and in this episode related to arts and aging.

Many of our listeners have told us they would like to dig deeper into art and change stories that focus on specific issues, constituencies, or disciplines. For anyone who is interested here are links to other Change the Story Episode episodes related to this episode’s subject. 

• Change the Story Collection: Arts and Healing
• Episode 63 and Episode 64: A Conversation with Liz Lerman

The following are links to more information about notable programs, people, and issues mentioned in this episode.

Creative Care, a Revolutionary Approach to Dementia and Elder Care: In Creative Care, Anne Basting lays the groundwork for a widespread transformation in our approach to elder care and uses compelling, touching stories to inspire and guide us all—family, friends, and health professionals—in how to connect and interact with those living with dementia.

TimeSlips: Founded by MacArthur Fellow Anne Basting, in 1998 TimeSlips is an “international network of artists and caregivers committed to bringing joy to late life. As our bodies and minds change with age, people ask – “How can I connect with my mom? My clients? My neighbor?” TimeSlips says try imagination.”

Kazuo Ohno, was a Japanese dancer who became a guru and inspirational figure in the dance form known as Butoh.[2] He is the author of several books on Butoh, including The Palace Soars through the Sky, Dessin, Words of Workshop, and Food for the Soul. The latter two were published in English as Kazuo Ohno's World: From Without & Within (2004).

The Penelope Project: At Milwaukee’s Luther Manor, a team of artists from the University of Wisconsin’s theatre department led by Anne Basting, and Sojourn Theatre Company, university students, staff, residents, and volunteers traded their bingo cards for copies of The Odyssey. They embarked on a two-year project to examine this ancient story from the perspective of the hero who never left home: Penelope, wife of Odysseus. Together, the team staged a play that engaged everyone and transcended the limits not just of old age and disability but also youth, institutional regulations, and disciplinary boundaries.

Sojourn Theatre Is A Program Of The Center For Performance And Civic Practice. Its mission is “to design bold opportunities for participation and unforgettable experience, with rigor and striking physicality.” Sojourn collaborates towards a vision of healthy communities and functional democracy.

Nicole Garneau is an interdisciplinary artist making site-specific performance and project art that is directly political, critically conscious, and community building. Her book Performing Revolutionary: Art, Action, Activism was published in print in Spring 2018 by Intellect. In 2022, a fully accessible audiobook version of Performing Revolutionary was released, narrated by Nicole Garneau.

Beautiful Questions: As part of the TimeSlips Beautiful Question project, family members, volunteers and professionals who work with older adults invite elders to consider a series of Beautiful Questions. We invite you to use the questions simply to deepen your exchanges but you may also choose to capture responses in written form, photographs, or audio recording and share them with us. If you choose to share, TimeSlips’ artists may shape your responses into works to be shared.

Pillsbury House + Theater: A cultural landmark at the crossroads of four historic and diverse Minneapolis neighborhoods, Pillsbury House + Theatre (PH+T) unites innovative human services with professional arts experiences for 30,000 residents who call the area home. 

Islands of Milwaukee: The Islands of Milwaukee (IoM) (2012-2014) project aimed to create a sustainable network to bring meaningful engagement to older adults living alone or under-connected to community and to use art to catalyze a community-wide conversation about the importance of connecting to community as we age.

Memory Café: A Memory Cafe is a wonderfully welcoming place for individuals with Alzheimer’s Disease or any other form of dementia, or other brain disorders. They are designed to include the care partner as well, for a shared experience. Additionally, it is helpful for people with all forms of mild cognitive impairment (MCI.)

The Percolator, The Jewish Family &Child Services  Memory Café Percolator shares information and tools to make it easier for organizations and individuals to start and sustain their own memory café.

Social Prescription: In Social Prescribing practice, trained workers "prescribe" holistic health resources to primary care patients by connecting them to personalized social services and local communities. Providers work to improve patient nutrition, physical activity, and mental health by centering patient interests and needs.

Kevin Iega Jeff:  is an award-winning choreographer, accomplished dancer, renowned director, and respected and devoted dance educator. Iega creates transcendent works while inspiring those around him to foster extraordinary lives through dance. "The foundation of my practice is to examine the histories, cultures, and aesthetics of the African inspired human diaspora: how the histories of people throughout the diaspora speak to universal experiences and how we can translate those experiences into dance."

On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition and Fiction: A century and a half after the publication of Origin of Species, evolutionary thinking has expanded beyond the field of biology to include virtually all human-related subjects—anthropology, archeology, psychology, economics, religion, morality, politics, culture, and art. Now a distinguished scholar offers the first comprehensive account of the evolutionary origins of art and storytelling. Brian Boyd explains why we tell stories, how our minds are shaped to understand them, and what difference an evolutionary understanding of human nature makes to stories we love.

Liz Lerman's Wicked Bodies: Inspired by powerful and grotesque images of women’s bodies over multiple historic periods, Liz Lerman’s new work Wicked Bodies premiered Thursday April 14, 2022, at the Green Music Center. It toured to Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival August 10-13, Arizona State University’s ASU Gammage on September 24, and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts October 28-30. 

• Liz Lerman discusses  Wicked Bodies and other matters of the heart, mind, dance, and the future of the planet in Change the Story / Change the World Episode 63 and Episode 64.

Creative Care, a Revolutionary Approach to Dementia and Elder Care: In Creative Care, Anne Basting lays the groundwork for a widespread transformation in our approach to elder care and uses compelling, touching stories to inspire and guide us all—family, friends, and health professionals—in how to connect and interact with those living with dementia.

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Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.

Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.

Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for artists, while celebrating the role of artists in residence and creative leadership in shaping a more just and inclusive world. Whether you’re an emerging or established artist for social justice, this podcast offers inspiration, practical advice, and a sense of solidarity in the journey toward art and social change.

This episode is Art in a Democracy: Selected Plays of Roadside Theater. Our conversation with editor Ben Fink and contributor Arnaldo J. Lopez. explores Roadside's 50-year history of creative collaboration percolating at the crossroads of art, community, and America's struggle to craft an authentic living democracy.

Ben Fink: Ben Fink worked with the Roadside ensemble from 2015 through 2020, as a member of the Betsy! Scholars’ Circle, as the founding organizer of the Letcher County Culture Hub and the Performing Our Future coalition, and as the cofounder of the cross-partisan dialogue project Hands Across the Hills. He has also served as dramaturg on the German premieres of  two Broadway musicals, made theater with Turkish and Arab high school students, and chaired a Lutheran faith community in Minnesota. His work in theater, organizing, pedagogy, and economic development has been featured by Salon.com, the Brookings Institution, TDR/The Drama Review, Harvard Law School, Americans for the Arts, PolicyLink, and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2020, Ben was recognized by Time magazine as one of “27 People Bridging Divides Across America.” He is the general editor of Art in a Democracy. 

Arnaldo J Lopez: is a cultural worker with a Ph.D. in Latin/o American Literatures and Cultures from New York University. He first joined Pregones Theater when the company set out to transform a South Bronx warehouse into a vibrant performing arts center, and later helped engineer a merger with the historic Puerto Rican Traveling Theater in Manhattan. Versed in a broad set of creative, community, and nonprofit topics, he works with artists in mapping paths toward joyful and sustainable practice. His background also includes ten years in letterpress and graphic design.

Art in a Democracy, the selected plays of Roadside Theater, volumes 1 and 2: This two-volume anthology tells the story of Roadside Theater’s first 45 years and includes nine award-winning original play scripts; ten essays by authors from different disciplines and generations, which explore the plays’ social, economic, and political circumstances; and a critical recounting of the theater’s history from 1975 through 2020. 

ArtinAdemocracy.org: The official Art in a Democracy website.

New Village Press is Art in a Democracy's publisher. The mission of New Village Press is to promote and enrich public discussion and understanding of issues vital to the development of healthy, creative, and socially just communities. To that end, New Village publishes transdisciplinary books that animate emerging movements in societal transformation. In conjunction, the Press also sponsors lectures, forums, and exhibitions for the public, especially for those communities that are underserved.

Junebug Productions emerged from the Free Southern Theater in 1980 with a mission to create and support artistic works that question and confront inequitable conditions that have historically impacted the Black community. "Through interrogation, we challenge ourselves and those aligned with the organization to make greater and deeper contributions towards a just society."

John O’Neal was a co-founder of the Free Southern Theater, Field Secretary of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and Founder of Junebug Productions. This list contains content that pays tribute to his incredible work for our field, and for freedom and justice in America. This HowlAround resource contains essays, video’s and a podcast featuring John O’Neal and his work.

Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater: Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (aka Pregones/PRTT) is a multigenerational performing ensemble, multidiscipline arts presenter, and owner/steward of bilingual arts facilities in The Bronx and Manhattan. Our mission is to champion a Puerto Rican/Latinx cultural legacy of universal value through creation and performance of original plays and musicals, exchange and partnership with other artists of merit, and engagement of diverse audiences.

Appalshop was founded in 1969 as a project of the US government's “war on poverty.” Over its five decades of lively existence, it's grown to become an important amplifier of the voices of the Appalachian region. Its mission is pretty simple, namely, “to develop effective ways of using media and cultural expression to address the complex issues facing the region.”

“We've been making art and media in the mountains since 1969. Now we're powered by the largest net-metered renewable energy system in Eastern Kentucky, and home to the largest single body of creative work on Appalachia in the world.” 

Promise of a Love Song: Promise of a Love Song interweaves three love stories, each from the particular culture of the play’s creators: Pregones Theater, a Puerto Rican company based in the Bronx; Junebug Productions, an African American theater based in New Orleans; and Roadside Theater 

Thousand Kites: Thousand Kites is the title of both a play script by Roadside Theater and an interdisciplinary project by Appalshop, Inc. addressing prison justice. 

Puerto Rican, Appalachian Musical, Betsy: Created and produced by Pregones Theater and Roadside Theater, BETSY! tells the story of a Bronx jazz singer forced to confront her twin Spanish Caribbean and Scotch-Irish roots. Her dilemma stirs up the ghosts of six generations of American women, and musical currents spanning four continents. 

The music for the audiogram trailer for this episode came from the score for the production of Betsy. Here are the liner notes:

The first phase of script and music development for Betsy (www.roadside.org/program/betsy-co…pregones-theater) took place at the Nashville Jazz Workshop. The following songs were recorded live during a workshop rehearsal at the Nashville Jazz Workshop. Musicians and vocalists include: Beegie Adair, piano & vocals; Ron Short, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, flute & vocals; Connye Florance, vocals; Caroline Peyton, vocals; Roger Spencer, string bass; Jim White, percussion; and Andre Reiss, guitar. All music is copyright Beegie Adair or Ron Short.

*******

Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.

Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.

Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for artists, while celebrating the role of artists in residence and creative leadership in shaping a more just and inclusive world. Whether you’re an emerging or established artist for social justice, this podcast offers inspiration, practical advice, and a sense of solidarity in the journey toward art and social change.

This episode's guest is artist, educator, and global cultural leader, Eric Booth. Eric’s passion is activating the artistry of others to foster wellness, create thriving communities and change behaviors for the better. Eric has written seven books, taught at Juilliard, Stanford, Lincoln Center, and consulted on arts, learning, teaching, and innovation across the globe.

In 2015 Eric Booth was given the nation’s highest award in arts education (the first artist to receive it). He began as a Broadway actor, and became a businessman (his company became the largest of its kind in the U.S. in 7 years), and author of seven books, including the bestseller The Everyday Work of Art, Playing for Their Lives (the only book about music for social change programs around the world) and Tending the Perennials, and over 30 published articles. He has been on the faculty of Juilliard (12 years), Tanglewood (5 years), The Kennedy Center (20 years), and Lincoln Center Education (for 41 years). He serves as a consultant for many arts organizations (including seven of the ten largest U.S. orchestras), cities, states and businesses around the U.S., and in 11 other countries. He has founded and led teaching artist training programs around the world. A frequent keynote speaker, he gave the closing keynote to UNESCO's first world arts education conference, and founded the International Teaching Artist Collaborative. Website : ericbooth.net

Anton Checkhov:  29 January 1860[note 2] – 15 July 1904[note 3]) was a Russian[3] playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his best short stories are held in high esteem by writers and critics.[

The Bear: A Joke in One Act, or The Boor (Russian: Медведь: Шутка в одном действии, tr. Medved': Shutka v odnom deystvii, 1888), is a one-act comedic play written by Russian author Anton Chekhov. The play was originally dedicated to Nikolai Nikolaevich Solovtsov, Chekhov's boyhood friend and director/actor who first played the character Smirnov.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi:  29 September 1934 – 20 October 2021) was a Hungarian-American psychologist. He recognized and named the psychological concept of "flow", a highly focused mental state conducive to productivity.[

Gospel of Mark, Alec McCowen: In 1977, Alec McCowen – unanimously regarded then and now as one of the finest actors in the English language – gave his first solo performance of St. Mark’s Gospel (King James Version) with minimal staging in a tiny church basement in Newcastle, England. Since these humble beginnings, the McCowen St. Mark’s Gospel has become a theatrical marvel of our time. Mr. McCowen, who recites the entire text of the Gospel from memory in this presentation, was nominated for a Tony Award in 1979 for his impressive work.

Arts in Corrections: Arts in Corrections was a program of the California Department of Corrections from 1981 to 2011. At its height it had a full and part-time faculty of over 1000 artists and an incarcerated student body and audience of 25,000. Shuttered in the wake of the great recession it was revived as a joint program of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the California Arts Council. The program currently operates in all of California’s 34 prisons.

Jose Alfonso: José Manuel Cerqueira Afonso dos Santos (2 August 1929 – 23 February 1987), known professionally as José Afonso and also popularly known as Zeca Afonso or simply Zeca, was a Portuguese singer-songwriter. One of the most influential folk and protest musicians in the history of Portugal, he became an icon in Portugal due to the role of his music in the resistance against the dictatorial Estado Novo regime.

Estado Novo: The Estado Novo was one of the longest-surviving authoritarian regimes in Europe in the 20th century. Opposed to communism, socialism, syndicalism, anarchism, liberalism and anti-colonialism, the regime was conservative, corporatist, and nationalist in nature, defending Portugal's traditional Catholicism.

Joseph Campbell: (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987) was an American writer. He was a professor of literature at Sarah Lawrence College who worked in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the human experience. Campbell's best-known work is his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949), in which he discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypal hero shared by world mythologies, termed the monomyth.

Audre Lorde: Poet and author Audre Lorde used her writing to shine light on her experience of the world as a Black lesbian woman and later, as a mother and person suffering from cancer. A prominent member of the women’s and LGBTQ rights movements, her writings called attention to the multifaceted nature of identity and the ways in which people from different walks of life could grow stronger together. 

Maxine Green: Through inquiries into sociology, history, and especially philosophy and literature, Maxine Greene explored living in awareness and "wide-awakeness" in order to advance social justice. Her thinking about existence and the power of imagination have been brought to life through her study, academic appointments, essays and books. In her teaching, she desires to educate those who speak, write, and resist in their own voices, rather than mimic her ideas and language. We look forward hearing your voices here in these pages. 

Elaine Scarry (born June 30, 1946) is an American essayist and professor of English and American Literature and Language. She is the Walter M. Cabot Professor of Aesthetics and the General Theory of Value at Harvard University. Her interests include Theory of Representation, the Language of Physical Pain, and Structure of Verbal and Material Making in Art, Science and the Law.

10,000 things: “The Ten Thousand Things” is a common phrase found in Taoist and Buddhist writings to connote the material diversity of the universe. Lao Tzu, for example, writes in the Tao Te Ching: Tao produced the One. The One produced the two.

El Sistema: (which translates to The System) is a publicly financed, voluntary sector, music-education program, founded in Venezuela in 1975 by Venezuelan educator, musician, and activist José Antonio Abreu.[1] It later adopted the motto "Music for Social Change." El Sistema-inspired programs provide what the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies describes as "free classical music education that promotes human opportunity and development for impoverished children."

Academy for Impact Through Music:At its core, AIM is a lab for learning: we gather, innovate and spread good practices for young people to empower themselves through music educatio

ITAC, the International Teaching Artist Collaborative: The International Teaching Artist Collaborative brings together artists, organizations, funders, and researchers from all over the world to explore key issues relating to participatory arts practices.

(The Everyday Work of Art: Awakening the Extraordinary in Your Daily Life: Eric Booth Book of the Month Club Selection, and winner of the Broadway Theatre Institute and Benjamin Franklin awards, The Everyday Work of Art has earned a wide, varied and passionate followingin the arts, education, business, and spiritual communities. Its wide appeal springs from its unique and powerful redefinition of art. 

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Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.

Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.

Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for artists, while celebrating the role of artists in residence and creative leadership in shaping a more just and inclusive world. Whether you’re an emerging or established artist for social justice, this podcast offers inspiration, practical advice, and a sense of solidarity in the journey toward art and social change.

In this episode we talk to author, visual artist, educator, and activist Arlene Goldbard about her new book. In the Camp of Angels of Freedom: What Does it Mean to be Educated. In it she explores her life's journey along with a camp of 11 angels that include James Baldwin, Nina Simone, Paolo Freire, Doris Lessing, and Jane Jacobs. 

Arlene Goldbard (www.arlenegoldbard.com) is a New Mexico-based writer, speaker, consultant, cultural activist, and visual artist whose focus is the intersection of culture, politics and spirituality. Her books include The Wave, The Culture of Possibility: Art, Artists & The Future; New Creative Community: The Art of Cultural Development, Community, Culture and Globalization, Crossroads: Reflections on the Politics of Culture, and Clarity. Her new book, In The Camp of Angels of Freedom: What Does It Mean to Be Educated? was published by New Village Press in January 2023. Her essays have been widely published. She has addressed academic and community audiences in the U.S. and Europe and provided advice to community-based organizations, independent media groups, institutions of higher education, and public and private funders and policymakers. Along with François Matarasso, she co-hosts “A Culture of Possibility,” a podcast produced by miaaw.net. From 2012 to 2019, she served as Chief Policy Wonk of the USDAC (usdac.us). From 2008-2019, she served as President of the Board of Directors of The Shalom Center. 

Change the Story / Change the World: A Chronicle of art and community transformation across the globe.

Change the Story Collection: Many of our listeners have told us they would like to dig deeper into art and change stories that focus on specific issues, constituencies, or disciplines. Others have shared that they are using the podcast as a learning resource and would appreciate categories and cross-references for our stories. In response we have curated episode collections in 11 arenas: Justice Arts, Children and Youth, Racial Reckoning, Creative Climate Action, Cultural Organizing, Creative Community Leadership Development, Arts and Healing, Art of the Rural, Theater for Change, Music and Transformation, Change Media.

 In the Camp of Angels of Freedom: What Does it Mean to be Educated: An autodidact explores issues of education itself through essays and personal portraits of the key minds who influenced her. What does it mean to be educated? Through her evocative paintings and narrative, author Arlene Goldbard has portrayed eleven people whose work most influenced her—what she calls a camp of angels.

 Order this Book @: Arlene Goldbard.com and New Village Press

James Baldwin is considered one of America’s finest writers.  He garnered acclaim for his work across several mediums, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, was published in 1953; decades later, Time magazine included the novel on its list of the 100 best English-language novels released from 1923 to 2005.[1] Baldwin's work fictionalizes fundamental personal questions and dilemmas amid complex social and psychological pressures. Themes of masculinity, sexuality, race, and class intertwine to create intricate narratives that run parallel with some of the major political movements toward social change in mid-twentieth century America, such as the civil rights movement and the gay liberation movement. 

Nina Simone: was one of the most extraordinary artists of the twentieth century, an icon of American music. She was the consummate musical storyteller, a griot as she would come to learn, who used her remarkable talent to create a legacy of liberation, empowerment, passion, and love through a magnificent body of works. 

Nina Simone @Monteau Jazz Festival (video)

Paul Goodman: was an American writer and public intellectual best known for his 1960s works of social criticism. Goodman was prolific across numerous literary genres and non-fiction topics, including the arts, civil rights, decentralization, democracy, education, media, politics, psychology, technology, urban planning, and war. As a humanist and self-styled man of letters, his works often addressed a common theme of the individual citizen's duties in the larger society, and the responsibility to exercise autonomy, act creatively, and realize one's own human nature.

US Department of Arts and Culture: The U.S. Department of Arts and Culture is a people-powered department—a grassroots action network inciting creativity and social imagination to shape a culture of empathy, equity, and belonging.

Dr. Ibram x. Kendi is a National Book Award-winning author of thirteen books for adults and children, including nine NewYork Times bestsellers—five of which were #1 NewYork Times bestsellers. Dr. Kendi is the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University, and the director of the BU Center for Antiracist Research. He is a contributing writer at The Atlantic and a CBS News racial justice contributor.

Golden Notebook: The Golden Notebook is a 1962 novel by the British writer Doris Lessing. Like her two books that followed, it enters the realm of what Margaret Drabble in The Oxford Companion to English Literature called Lessing's "inner space fiction";[citation needed] her work that explores mental and societal breakdown. The novel contains anti-war and anti-Stalinist messages, an extended analysis of communism and the Communist Party in England from the 1930s to the 1950s, and an examination of the budding sexual revolution and women's liberation movements.

Doris Lessing: was a British-Zimbabwean novelist. She was born to British parents in Iran, where she lived until 1925. Lessing was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in Literature. In awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy described her as "that epicist of the female experience, who with scepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilisation to scrutiny".[2] Lessing was the oldest person ever to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, at age 87.[3][4][5]

Vaclav Havel: The unassuming man who taught, through plays and politics, how tyranny may be defied and overcome. Although a highly successful politician, four times head of state and the leader of one of the most famous revolutions in history, he was not a natural public figure. A sincere, impatient and humble man, he detested the pomposity, superficiality and phoney intimacy of politics.

Isaiah Berlin: Isaiah Berlin (1909–97) was a naturalised British philosopher, historian of ideas, political theorist, educator, public intellectual and moralist, and essayist. He was renowned for his conversational brilliance, his defence of liberalism and pluralism, his opposition to political extremism and intellectual fanaticism, and his accessible, coruscating writings on people and ideas. 

Marjorie Taylor Green, Jewish space lasers,

Waiting for Godot: is a play by Samuel Beckett in which two characters, Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), engage in a variety of discussions and encounters while awaiting the titular Godot, who never arrives.[2] Waiting for Godot is Beckett's translation of his own original French-language play, En attendant Godot, and is subtitled (in English only) "a tragicomedy in two acts"

Waiting for Godot at San Quentin Prison 1988: This documentary was made during rehearsals for the play "Waiting for Godot," by Samuel Beckett, which was performed in 1988 by members of the San Quentin Drama Workshop at San Quentin maximum security prison, Marin County, California. Swedish director Jan Jonson directed

A Culture of Possibility.  by Arlene Goldbard. "If we're going to end this fiscal madness and start rebuilding America, we're going to have to get creative! We need a tsunami of music, film, poetry and art. The Culture of Possibility shows us how creativity can take our story back from Corporation Nation, tilting the culture towards justice, equity, and innovation. I urge you to read this book!" Van Jones

Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907 – December 23, 1972) was a Polish-American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. Heschel, a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, authored a number of widely read books on Jewish philosophy and was a leader in the civil rights movement.[1][2]

National Guild for Community Arts Education: Founded in 1937, the National Guild for Community Arts Education is the sole national service organization for providers of community arts education. We believe in the power of the arts to transform lives. Our work helps realize that transformation every day.

The Higher Ground Community Arts of Spiritual Practice: This is the text of Arlene Goldbards’s keynote address at the annual conference of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts. It was delivered on 3 November 2006.

Liz Lerman: Hiking the Horizontal: Coreographer, education, and all around heritic-change agent Liz Lerman offers readers a gentle manifesto to bring a horizontal focus to bear on a hierarchical world. This is the perfect book for anyone curious about the possible role for art in politics, science, community, motherhood, and the media.

The National Conference on Religion and Race, held at Chicago's Edgewater Beach Hotel, 14–17 January...

This week we visit with researcher, writer, planner, Lorrie Chang to talk about her work with ArtPlace America's Community Development Investment (CDI) program. Along the way we will explore how artists from the Zuni Pueblo, and Southwest Minnesota worked with community developers to integrate arts-based tools and strategies as an enduring core of their practice?

Lorrie Chang centers an arts and cultural-based approach to community change and development as a path to collective liberation. At PolicyLink, she designed and evaluated the nation’s first Creative Placemaking technical assistance program for The National Endowment for the Arts, served as the research partner for ArtPlace’s experiment to integrate arts and culture strategies into community development organizations, and supported six arts organizations advancing equitable policies across the country. In East Portland, she led community engagement rooted in storytelling for The People’s Plan-- a plan by and for the people projecting a vision for a thriving Black community. As a Yerba Buena Center for the Arts' Truth Fellow, she explored, "How do we find and empower TRUTH?". Last year, in stillness, she humbly pursued, “What does liberation look like for me?”. She now seeks to alchemize her journey of personal liberation to serve collective liberation. Lorrie holds a Master's in Urban and Regional Planning and resides in San Francisco. 

The Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership (SWMHP) is a non-profit community development corporation serving communities throughout Southwest and South Central Minnesota.

Partnership Art: In 2015, SWMHP was one of six organizations that received funding through Artplace America to participate in the Community Development Investments (CDI) Program. The CDI Program was launched to investigate and support place-based organization incorporating art and culture into our core work, allowing us to better fulfill our mission of creative thriving place to live, grow and work.

Place-based Productions: We are a production company that explores community stories through site-specific performance and the arts. Our work cultivates stewards of community identity by connecting people to their common places, stories and relationships.

Our goals are to foster creativity, play, and, above all, a sense of place.

ArtPlace America was a ten-year, $150 million collaboration among a number of foundations, federal agencies, and financial institutions that operated from 2010 to 2020. Our mission was to position arts and culture as a core sector of equitable community planning and development. You can learn about the story of ArtPlace in our book.

ArtPlace America's Community Development Initiative: A core focus of ArtPlace America’s Community Development Investments program was to learn from how six organizations in urban, rural, and tribal areas were able to incorporate arts and culture into their work, help them achieve their missions more effectively, and bring about positive outcomes for their communities.

PolicyLink: PolicyLink is a national research and action institute advancing racial and economic equity by Lifting Up What Works.® “As the nation moves toward becoming majority people of color, achieving equity—just and fair inclusion into a society in which all can participate, prosper, and reach their full potential—is the moral imperative, a potent antidote to inequality, and the superior growth model.”

Lisjan Ohlone: The Lisjan are made up of the six nations that were directly enslaved at Mission San Jose in Fremont, CA and Mission Dolores in San Francisco, CA: Lisjan (Ohlone), Karkin (Ohlone), Bay Miwok, Plains Miwok, Delta Yokut and Napian (Patwin). Our territory includes 5 Bay Area counties; Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano, Napa and San Joaquin, and we are directly tied to the “Indian Town” census of the 1920’s and the Verona Band.

Jeremy Liu: Liu is an award-winning artist, social impact strategist, and real estate developer with a successful track record of developing “Community Benefits by Design” real estate projects. As the Senior Fellow for Arts, Culture and Equitable Development at PolicyLink, he has shaped and is guiding an initiative that integrate arts and culture into the work of equitable development.

Zuni Youth Empowerment Project: our mission is to promote resilience among zuni youth, so they will grow into strong and healthy adults who are connected with Zuni traditions. 

Daryl Shack: My name is Daryl Shack Sr. I am a Painter and Fetish Carver with 44 years of experience. My Fetish work is made with various stones that are found locally and from around the world. For my paintings, I use Acrylic and Enamel paints on canvas. What influences my Art is my father, our Culture and Traditions. 

Ashley Hansen Ashley Hanson (she/her) has 15 years of experience working with rural communities to activate stories, connect neighbors, and exercise collective imagination. She is a member of the Center for Performance and Civic Practice Leadership Circle and she was an Artist-in-Residence in both the Planning Department at the City of Minneapolis and with the Southwest Minnesota Housing Partnership, where she employed creative community engagement strategies for equitable participation in urban and rural planning and development processes.

Shambhala Prophecy: There comes a time when all life on Earth is in danger. Barbarian powers have arisen. Although they waste their wealth in preparations to annihilate each other, they have much in common: weapons of unfathomable devastation and technologies that lay waste the world. It is now, when the future of all beings hangs by the frailest of threads, that the kingdom of Shambhala emerges.

In Episode 63 of Change the Story / Change the World, Liz Lerman shared stories about her early years and her creative path as a choreographer, teacher, and as a lifelong practicing heretic. In this Episode, (64) we hear about Wicked Bodies, her latest work, exploring the ugly, the beautiful, and the sublime embedded in the age-old story of witches.

Special Thanks to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts for their support of Liz Lerman's work and the use of an excerpt from the Wicked Bodies trailer.

Liz Lerman is a choreographer, performer, writer, teacher, and speaker. She has spent the past four decades making her artistic research personal, funny, intellectually vivid, and up to the minute. A key aspect of her artistry is opening her process to everyone from shipbuilders to physicists, construction workers to ballerinas, resulting in both research and experiences that are participatory, relevant, urgent, and usable by others.

Called by the Washington Post “the source of an epochal revolution in the scope and purposes of dance art,”[4] she and her dancers have collaborated with shipbuilders, physicists, construction workers, and cancer researchers.[5] In 2002 she won the MacArthur Genius Grant;[6] in 2009, the Jack P. Blaney Award in Dialogue acknowledged her outstanding leadership, creativity, and dedication to melding dialogue with dance, and the 2017 Jacob’s Pillow Dance Award.[7]

She founded the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in 1976 and led the company's multi-generational ensemble until July 2011, when Lerman passed the leadership of her company to Cassie Meador;[8] the company is now called simply Dance Exchange.[9] .[10]

Under Lerman's leadership Dance Exchange appeared across the U.S. in locations as various as the National Cathedral,[11] Kennedy Center Opera House,[12] and Millennium Stage,[13] Lansburgh Theatre,[14] Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center,[14][15] Harvard University,[16] and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.[17][18]

Lerman's early work was strongly associated with the inclusion of older people alongside more traditional young performers,[19] and with the use of personal narrative.[4] 

Liz Lerman: I help others when they come to me and ask. I work in this country and abroad in settings that continue to forge my thinking, make me bolder, and let me interrogate the next generations of artists. It is wide open at the moment. I am a little frightened, a lot more curious, and full of wonder and grief as I gaze around me.”

– Liz Lerman

Change the Story / Change the World EP: 63, Liz Lerman shared stories about her early years and her creative path as a choreographer teacher, and as a lifelong practicing heretic. She also talked about hiking, the horizontal, the critical response process, challenging the Canon, the Heisenberg Uncertainty and how dance can help make the world a better place.

Heisenberg Uncertainty: n quantum mechanics, the uncertainty principle (also known as Heisenberg's uncertainty principle) is any of a variety of mathematical inequalities[1] asserting a fundamental limit to the accuracy with which the values for certain pairs of physical quantities of a particle, such as position, x, and momentum, p, can be predicted from initial conditions.

Wicked Bodies, Liz Lerman’s latest work, exploring the ugly, the beautiful, and the sublime embedded in the age-old story of witches. 

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts YBCA was founded in 1963, as the cultural anchor of San Francisco’s Yerba Buena Gardens neighborhood. YBCA’s work spans the realms of contemporary art, performance, film, civic engagement, and public life. By centering artists as essential to social and cultural movement, YBCA is reimagining the role an arts institution can play in the community it serves.

Christine Blasey Ford: is an American professor of psychology at Palo Alto University and a research psychologist at the Stanford University School of Medicine.[4] She specializes in designing statistical models for research projects.[5] During her academic career, Ford has worked as a professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine Collaborative Clinical Psychology Program.[6]

In September 2018, Ford alleged that then-U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in Bethesda, Maryland, when they were teenagers in the summer of 1982.[7] She testified about her allegations during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing regarding Kavanaugh's Supreme Court nomination later that month.[8]

Witches & Wicked Bodies An 2013 exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art that provided a rich survey of images of European witchcraft from the ancient world to the present day. Witches, even in biblical and classical times were predominantly women and the misogynistic narratives of their wickedness and lewdness propounded by clerics in books such as the Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches),1486 resulted in enduring stereotypes that were imaginatively re-invented by artists over the centuries.  

Johannes Kepler: was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, natural philosopher and writer on music.[5] He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best known for his laws of planetary motion, and his books Astronomia nova, Harmonice Mundi, and Epitome Astronomiae Copernicanae. These works also provided one of the foundations for Newton's theory of universal gravitation.[6] 

In 1615, 24 witnesses accused Katharina Kepler, the astronomer’s mother, of being a witch. Because of these charges and others, the elderly Katharina was chained to the floor of a prison cell, where she was watched by two guards. Kepler, then the imperial mathematician to Emperor Rudolf II, took over his mother’s legal defense, not realizing the case would go on for six years. Katharina’s story is the subject of a new book, The Astronomer and the Witch (Oxford, 2015), by Cambridge professor Ulinka Rublack.  

 “cultural humility” : To enter my relationships with my students who come from other cultures with my neighbors, my colleagues. I wish I knew all that I could know about their histories, but I don't. And so, and I can study, but that won't make me know it.So, humility seems to me. A space where, settle back, be gentle, be curious. Assume you're not the only person in the world and that not knowing is the best way to be. -- Liz Lerman

Hiking the Horizontal: Liz Lerman’s 2021 book offers readers a gentle manifesto to bring a horizontal focus to bear on a hierarchical world. This is the perfect book for anyone curious about the possible role for art in politics, science, community, motherhood, and the media. 

Dance Exchange: “A place I think of as a think tank and action lab, a place that has been my home and home to many others since I established it in 1976.” Mission: Fueled by generosity and curiosity, Dance Exchange expands who gets to dance, where dance happens, what dance is about, and why dance matters.

senninbari: (千人針, "thousand person stitches) or one thousand stitch is a belt or strip of cloth stitched 1000 times and given as a Shinto amulet by Japanese women and imperial subjects to soldiers going away to war. Senninbari were decorated with 1000 knots or stitches, and each stitch was normally made by a different woman.[1][2]  

The Atlas of Creative Tools is a work in progress developed by Liz Lerman and her colleagues at Arizona State University.  This selection of creative tools helps you practice ways of working with memories, exploring identity, making new connections, and engaging with curiosity.

Legacy Unboxed, “We're just looking at the wildness of being this age and all the wild ways we wanna be in the world and what we wanna do about that and how we wanna handle.” Liz Lerman.

She Said s a 2022 American biographical drama film directed by Maria Schrader and written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, based on the 2019 book of the same title by reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey. The film stars Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan as Twohey and Kantor, respectively, and follows their New York Times investigation that exposed Harvey Weinstein's history of abuse and sexual misconduct against women.

Demon Copperhead: s a 2022 novel by