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

The Artist Proof story takes us to Johannesburg, where a print studio becomes a living laboratory for a new society. We also hear about:

• A court built as art, where law and lived experience meet in the same space

• A collective studio where artists divided by apartheid learn to work, argue, and make meaning together

• A fire, a death, and a return to the ashes—where broken pieces become the raw material for rebuilding

What emerges isn’t a heroic artist story. It’s something quieter and more durable: a way of working where creativity becomes infrastructure—where access, collaboration, and persistence slowly reshape how people see themselves and each other. Not a moment. A practice. Not a symbol. A system.

Stay with this. There’s something here about how change really happens—how culture does the long work that politics alone can’t finish.

• Artist Proof Studio
• A Johannesburg-based printmaking and training center founded in 1991, focused on access, collaboration, and professional development for emerging artists across South Africa and the continent.
• Constitution Hill
• Historic site of South Africa’s Constitutional Court, built on a former prison complex and integrating art into its architecture as part of democratic nation-building.

• Kim Berman
• Artist, educator, and co-founder of Artist Proof Studio, known for her work in printmaking and arts education tied to social transformation.
• Nelson Mandela
• Anti-apartheid leader and South Africa’s first democratically elected president, whose release in 1990 marked a turning point in the country’s transition.
• Albert Lutuli
• Nobel Peace Prize laureate and president of the African National Congress, imprisoned during apartheid.
• Joe Slovo
• Key leader in the anti-apartheid struggle and later a government minister in democratic South Africa.
• Mahatma Gandhi
• Lived and organized in South Africa early in his career; his imprisonment there shaped his philosophy of nonviolent resistance.

• Human Rights Day
• Commemorated on March 21, marking the Sharpeville Massacre and honoring the struggle for human rights in South Africa.
• End of Apartheid
• The dismantling of South Africa’s system of racial segregation and the transition to democratic governance in the early 1990s.

• South African Broadcasting Corporation
• South Africa’s public broadcaster, covering national cultural and economic developments including the arts sector.

Art Is CHANGE 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 conversation, community arts organizer, educator and theater maker Matt Schwarzman describes his mission to make collaborative art making a regular, normal, expected part of everyday life. A movement that has quietly grown for decades, but now faces a new test in a time of democratic strain.

Along the way, he traces his influences from John o' Neill and the Free Southern the to the grassroots cultural movements of the 1980s and 90s that helped shape a generation of artists who see culture not as decoration but as civic infrastructure.

Matt's journey winds through several decades of cultural organizing from sea to era arts jobs in Philadelphia to community organizing in Oakland and youth theater in post Katrina New Orleans.

Across these projects, a single thread emerges the idea that community arts is a learnable, cross sector civic practice, an amalgam of organizing, teaching and art making.

In our conversation, we talk about:

1. The influence of seminal cultural leaders like John O'Neal, whose minimalist storytelling and story circle methodology help build national networks of cultural democracy
2. How youth arts programs can serve as modern rites of passage that help young people claim civic voice and leadership
3. And how storytelling, imagination and collective creation are foundational skills for sustaining democratic life.

Mat Schwarzman – Trinity City Arts

Community arts organizer, educator, theater maker, and co-creator of Trinity City Comics and A Beginner’s Guide to Community-Based Arts.

John O’Neal – SNCC Digital Gateway

Playwright, storyteller, organizer, and founder of Junebug Productions; a key influence on Schwarzman’s understanding of cultural democracy and story circles.

Keith Knight – K Chronicles

Cartoonist and collaborator with Mat Schwarzman on A Beginner’s Guide to Community-Based Arts.

Rhodessa Jones – Cornell Arts & Sciences

Performer, teacher, and co-artistic director of Cultural Odyssey, cited in the episode through her theater work with formerly incarcerated women.

Rinku Sen

Organizer, strategist, and writer whose work at the Center for Third World Organizing helped shape Schwarzman’s understanding of community organizing.

Gary Delgado – American University

Organizer, scholar, and founder of the Center for Third World Organizing; one of the people Schwarzman credits with teaching him organizing practice.

Steve Prince – Studio Website

Artist and educator who worked with Trinity City Arts and helped mentor youth comic-makers on Trinity City Comics.

Judith Malina – The Living Theatre

Co-founder of the Living Theatre, referenced for her writing on the artist’s role during periods of counter-revolution.

Octavia E. Butler – Hachette author page

Visionary novelist whose Afrofuturist imagination and Parable novels deeply influence Schwarzman’s current work.

Robert M. Sapolsky – Stanford Profile

Neuroscientist and writer whose work on behavior, biology, and violence informs Schwarzman’s thinking.

New Orleans / Bolbancha

Schwarzman’s home base and the setting for much of his current work; he names it as Bolbancha, “the place of many tongues.”

Philadelphia

City where Schwarzman began his paid community arts work at Big Small Theater and connected with the Painted Bride Art Center.

Oakland

Where Schwarzman trained in organizing through the Center for Third World Organizing and developed the East Bay Institute for Urban Arts.

Alameda, California

Bill Cleveland’s home base, acknowledged in the episode as Ohlone land.

San Francisco Bay Area

The broader region where Schwarzman worked at New College of California and built his arts-and-organizing practice.

Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA)

Federal jobs program that helped support the arts position Schwarzman took in Philadelphia in the mid-1980s.

Hurricane Katrina

The storm whose aftermath shaped Schwarzman’s New Orleans youth theater work, including the Creative Forces Youth Theater Company.

Chicago Conference of the Alliance for Cultural Democracy Archive

Referenced in the episode as one of the gatherings that connected Schwarzman to a wider national arts-and-democracy network.

Junebug Productions: Our Story

The institutional home for John O’Neal’s post–Free Southern Theater work, including the Junebug Jabbo Jones performances mentioned in the episode.

A Beginner’s Guide to Community-Based Arts, 2nd Edition

Comics-illustrated guide co-authored by Mat Schwarzman and Keith Knight, designed to demystify community-based arts practice.

Parable of the Sower

Octavia Butler’s novel, cited by Schwarzman as a major influence on Trinity City Comics and his interest in Afrofuturism.

Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst

Robert Sapolsky’s wide-ranging study of the biological roots of behavior, referenced in the conversation as a current fascination.

Do Dogs Laugh?

Jake Page’s popular science book on canine behavior, cited by Schwarzman in relation to theater, performance, and social roles.

From Freesound.org

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Audio Exerpt:

"Don't Start Talking...Junebug Jabbo Jones”Stevenson J. Palfi's 1985 television adaptation of playwright/actor John O' Neal's bravura one-man theater piece.

"Don’t Start Me Talking Or I'll Tell You Everything Know. Sayings From the Life and Writings of Junebug Jabbo Jones” was created by O' Neal as the final production of the Free Southern Theater, which had been formed in 1963 to be a cultural arm of the Civil Rights Movement.

The play was developed in the community workshop-feedback style with O'Neal's principle collaborator, the theater director Steven Kent,

#ANALOGLAB.ORG

#ANALOG LAB

#SOUTHEAST MEDIA PRODUCTION LAB

#JUNEBUG PRODUCTIONS

#SE MEDIA PRESERVATION ALLIANCE

#NEW ORLEANS

#JUNEBUG

#FREE SOUTHERN THEATER

#JOHN O' NEAL

#STEVENSON PALFI

Art Is CHANGE 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 opening episode of a new Art in Action series produced with the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, Bill Cleveland speaks with Joni Doherty, Senior Program Officer for Democracy and the Arts. Their conversation begins with a rediscovered 1964 speech by Martin Luther King Jr. in Dayton, Ohio, and unfolds into a powerful exploration of how artists today are confronting censorship, recovering buried histories, and expanding the civic imagination.

As Doherty explains, the arts are not merely decoration for democracy—they are one of its most powerful engines.

Through stories of collaboration between artists, poets, dancers, and community leaders in Dayton, the conversation reveals how creative work can become a living civic process, one that helps communities reflect on their past, confront their present, and imagine new futures.

In this episode we explore:

• How an almost forgotten Martin Luther King Jr. speech sparked a multi—disciplinary arts movement in Dayton, Ohio.
• How artists are confronting censorship and cultural erasure by reclaiming hidden histories and expanding the frame of what we see.
• Why artistic creativity may be one of democracy’s most powerful tools—what Cleveland calls a kind of “creative cold fusion.”

Listen in as Joni Doherty shares how artists, community leaders, and cultural institutions are working together to defend freedom of expression, and why the work of imagination is essential to the future of democracy.

Notable Mentions

People

Joni Doherty – Senior Program Officer for Democracy and the Arts at the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, working to build collaborations between artists and civic institutions that strengthen democratic life.

Bill Cleveland – Artist, writer, and host of Art Is Change, known for documenting the role of community-based arts in social transformation.

Martin Luther King Jr. – Civil rights leader whose philosophy of nonviolent resistance and moral courage continues to inspire movements for justice and democratic freedom.

Bing Davis – Dayton based visual artist and community arts leader whose work explores African American history, identity, and cultural resilience.

Sharon L. Davies – President and CEO of the Charles F. Kettering Foundation, leading initiatives focused on democracy, civic engagement, and innovation.

Debbie Blunden-Diggs – Executive Director and Artistic Director of the Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, one of the nation’s leading modern dance organizations.

Sarah Lewis – Art historian and author whose work explores perception, race, and representation in visual culture.

Sierra Leone -Governor’s Award winner, poet and writer Sierra Leone is the president, artistic director and cofounder of OFP Theatre and Production Company. For more than a decade, Ohio has benefitted from Sierra's vision of creative urban arts as a powerful artistic medium to bring communities together across racial, cultural, ideological, and economic divides.

Organizations

Charles F. Kettering Foundation — A nonpartisan research foundation focused on affirming and advancing inclusive democracy and countering authoritarianism..

Democracy and the Arts at the Kettering Foundation — One of the Kettering Foundation’s five focus areas. The Democracy and the Arts program integrates the unique power of the arts into the foundation’s and partners with Art Is Change for the Art in Action podcast series.

Dayton Art Institute A major regional art museum that hosts exhibitions and community arts programming.

Dayton Contemporary Dance Company – One of the nation’s premier modern dance companies, known for work rooted in African American cultural traditions.

EboNia Gallery — A gallery owned by Willis “Bing” Davis that exhibits contemporary African—American artwork. Located in the Wright—Dunbar District in Dayton, it co—hosted the Visual Voices exhibition discussed in the podcast.

Smithsonian Institution – The United States’ national museum and research complex, referenced in the conversation in relation to debates over cultural representation and censorship.

Events & Historical References

Cold Fusion Announcement (1989) – A controversial scientific claim made by chemists Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons that nuclear fusion had been achieved at room temperature.

The Third Reich – Nazi Germany (1933—1945), referenced as an example of authoritarian regimes suppressing artistic freedom.

Stalinist Russia – Period of Soviet rule marked by strict political control and censorship of artistic expression.

Cambodian Genocide – Under the Khmer Rouge regime (1975—1979), artists,

intellectuals, and cultural practitioners were systematically persecuted.

Publications

The Unseen Truth: When Race Changed Sight in America – A book by Sarah Lewis that examines hos visual culture and perception shape racial understanding and historical memory.

Visual Voices: An Exhibition of African American Artists Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s 1964 Dayton Speech — A catalog that includes all of the works in the exhibition discussed in the podcast.

Visual Voices: Storytelling Through Poetry — An anthology of ekphrastic poems created in response to the artwork in Visual Voices: An Exhibition of African American Artists Inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s 1964 Dayton Speech..

Art Is CHANGE 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.

You can feel it in the air.

Across museums, national parks, libraries, and cultural institutions, the pressure around what can be said — and what must disappear — is tightening.

But while federal policies attempt to narrow the public cultural space, artists, historians, librarians, educators, and cultural organizers are responding in real time — documenting what’s being erased, refusing complicity, and building new civic infrastructure.

In this report, Bill Cleveland surveys the emerging landscape of creative resistance and cultural restriction across the United States.

From citizen historians documenting museum censorship at the Smithsonian to artists leaving politicized institutions like the Kennedy Center, the story unfolding is not just about politics — it’s about who controls public memory. In this episode you’ll hear

• How citizen historians are systematically documenting changes to museum exhibits and historical interpretation — turning smartphones and metadata into tools of cultural preservation.
• About artists and cultural leaders are increasingly walking away from institutions where political interference threatens artistic integrity.k
• How libraries, classrooms, and community arts programs, cultural workers are developing creative strategies to defend access to history, literacy, and civic dialogue.

Marc Bamuthi Joseph – Kennedy Center Artist Profile

Former Vice President and Artistic Director of Social Impact at the Kennedy Center whose public remarks following his dismissal highlighted the cultural and political tensions surrounding leadership changes at the institution.

Amy Goodman – Democracy Now!

Journalist and host of the independent news program Democracy Now! which reported on the Kennedy Center controversy and broader cultural policy developments.

Kim Snyder – Filmmaker Website

Documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on civic life, social justice, and democratic culture, including her film examining librarian resistance to book bans.

Rep. Brendan Boyle – U.S. House of Representatives

Congressman representing Pennsylvania who has advocated for restoring historical interpretation about slavery at the President’s House historic site in Philadelphia.

Citizen Historians for the Smithsonian – Smithsonian Magazine Coverage

Volunteer effort documenting exhibit labels and interpretive texts across Smithsonian museums to preserve records of historical interpretation.

Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery

Smithsonian museum in Washington, D.C., referenced in the episode in connection with efforts to document removed or revised exhibit texts.

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

National cultural institution that has become a focal point for debates about political influence in arts institutions.

National Park Service

Federal agency responsible for interpretive materials at national historic sites where historical narratives have recently been subject to review and dispute.

Reuters – International News Agency

News organization that reported on federal reviews of museum exhibits, park signage, and historical interpretation.

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)

Public television network distributing documentary work addressing civic and cultural issues.

Democracy Now! – Independent News Program

Daily news program covering political developments affecting arts institutions and cultural policy.

The Librarians – PBS Documentary Film

Documentary film directed by Kim Snyder examining the rise of book bans and the librarians pushing back.

Young Worker March on Washington – Coverage in The Nation

Youth labor mobilization addressing affordability, housing, healthcare, and worker rights, highlighting the economic pressures shaping the lives of many artists and cultural workers.

Punk in the Park Festival

Touring punk festival whose 2026 events were canceled after bands withdrew in response to controversy surrounding political donations by the festival’s promoter.

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Art Is CHANGE 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.

Arts On Prescription: What if your doctor prescribed an arts-based treatment for what ails you and your health insurance paid for it.

YEAH RIGHT! Actually, Yeah, right, and REALLY! In this episode we learn all about it in Arts on Prescription: A Field Guide for U. S. Communities

Dr. Tasha Golden directs research for the International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins Medicine. As a national leader in arts + public health, Dr. Golden studies the impacts of arts & culture, music, aesthetics, and social norms on well-being, health research, and professional practice. She has authored many publications related to arts and health, served as an advisor on several national health initiatives, and is adjunct faculty for the University of Florida’s Center for Arts in Medicine.

In addition to her research, Golden is a career artist and entrepreneur. As singer-songwriter for the critically acclaimed band Ellery, she toured full-time in the U.S. and abroad, and her songs appear in feature films and TV dramas (ABC, SHOWTIME, FOX, NETFLIX, etc). She is also a published poet and has taught university courses in public health as well as in writing, rhetoric, and literature. Holding a Ph.D. in Public Health Sciences, Dr. Golden draws on her diverse background to develop innovative, interdisciplinary presentations and partnerships that advance health, health equity, creativity, and well-being.

Dr. Golden is also the founder of Project Uncaged: an arts-based health intervention for incarcerated teen women that amplifies their voices in community and policy discourses. These young folx are among her greatest teachers.

Jill Sonke, PhD, is director of research initiatives in the Center for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida (UF), director of national research and impact for the One Nation/One Project initiative, and co-director of the EpiArts Lab, a National Endowment for the Arts Research Lab. She is an affiliated faculty member in the UF School of Theatre & Dance, the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases, the Center for African Studies, the STEM Translational Communication Center, and the One Health Center, and is an editorial board member for Health Promotion Practice journal. She served in the pandemic as a senior advisor to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vaccine Confidence and Demand Team on the COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence Task Force and currently serves on the steering committee of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, established by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Steinhardt School at New York University, Community Jameel, and CULTURUNNERS.

With 28 years of experience and leadership in the field of arts in health and a PhD in arts in public health from Ulster University in Northern Ireland, Jill is active in research and policy advocacy nationally and internationally. She is an artist and a mixed methods researcher with a current focus on population-level health outcomes associated with arts and cultural participation, arts in public health, and the arts in health communication. Notable Mentions

Arts On Prescription: A Field Guide for US Communities.: A roadmap for communities to develop programs that integrate arts, culture, and nature resources into local health and social care systems. prescription

Anne Basting, Creative Care: Basting pioneers a radical change in how we interact with older loved ones, especially those experiencing dementia, as she introduces a proven method that uses the creative arts to bring light and joy to the lives of elders.

Atlantic Fellowship:Through seven global, interconnected programs, Atlantic Fellows collaborate across borders and disciplines to address the root causes of inequity.

Veronica Rojas is an Atlantic Fellow who works in different art programs in the San Francisco Bay Area that either serve adults with developmental disabilities or older adults, many with dementia. She is both a practicing and teaching artist.

Center for Arts in Medicine at the University of Florida (UF): Using creativity to advance health, wellness, and equity as a trained arts in health professional. Promote health one creative moment at a time.International Arts + Mind Lab at Johns Hopkins Medicine,

Tennessee Whiskey, Tasha Golden, from Over Land, Over Sea

Interlochen Arts Academy: “A global community of like-minded artists, you'll discover a high school for the arts (grades 9-12) you may only have dreamed about.”

Mass Cultural Council, CultureRX: Mission - To build a public infrastructure that supports the role of cultural experiences as a protective factor in the health and well-being of all people in the Commonwealth.

United Kingdom, National Health Service, social prescribing infrastructure is an approach that connects people to activities, groups, and services in their community to meet the practical, social and emotional needs that affect their health and wellbeing.. Alan Siegel advocate for social prescribing

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield in New Jersey/New Jersey Performing Arts Center: Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey has made a $3 million gift to NJPAC to support new arts and wellness programming both at the Arts Center and throughout Newark. Health Organization's definition of health, World Health Organization published a social prescribing toolkit.

Federal Reserve Bank of New York/Social Prescribing: On Wednesday, October 4, 2023, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in partnership with Social Prescribing USA, hosted an in-person event discussing how medical prescriptions for patients to participate in community activities such as walking in nature, creating and viewing art, joining social groups, and volunteering can improve public health.

Quebec, Mediateur Culturel, For several years, the City of Quebec has been developing cultural mediation projects between professional artists and citizens. By bringing art into their living environment and involving them in the creative process, cultural mediation places citizens at the heart of the artistic process. Here are the works of art created so far in all the boroughs of Quebec.

Dr. Daisy Fancourt, is a British researcher who is an Associate Professor of Psychobiology and Epidemiology at University College London.[3][4][5] Her research focuses on the effects of social factors on health, including loneliness, social isolation, community assets, arts and cultural engagement, and social prescribing.[6

Social Prescribing USA: “Our mission is to make social prescribing available to every American by 2035. Our team of volunteers aims to act as the movement’s catalyst.”

NeuroArts Blueprint:This action plan explains how to grow and share the scientific knowledge showing art to be an extraordinary tool for promoting health and wellbeing in individuals and communities.

OPPORTUNITY: Renée Fleming Foundation and NeuroArts Blueprint Initiative are proud to announce a groundbreaking program to encourage collaborative neuroarts research between early career artists and scientists. Watch our January 8 informational webinar on the awards here!

Rest is Resistance by Tricia Hersey and the Nap Ministry ; This book “is a clarion call for our generation. In this pioneering book, Tricia Hersey invites us all to opt out of “grind culture” and embrace our basic and sacred human right to self-care, relaxation, and rest.”

Laziness Does Not Exist, Devin Price: This book “explores the psychological underpinnings of the “laziness lie,” including its origins from the Puritans and how it has continued to proliferate as digital work tools have blurred the boundaries between work and life.”

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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 November 1999, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, a community play called The Wedding brought Protestants and Catholics together to rehearse a shared future in the fragile aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement. It wasn’t a feel-good arts project. It was risky, volatile, negotiated truth performed in living rooms and kitchen houses on both sides of the peace line.

In this episode, we revisit that moment — not as nostalgia, but as a live question for a divided United States struggling to imagine a coherent democratic future.

In this episode, we explore three critical lessons from Belfast that feel urgently relevant today:

1. Proximity changes people. Intimacy — not abstraction — makes caricature impossible.
2. Shared labor builds trust before shared opinion. Competence together can precede consensus.
3. Hope is not a feeling. It’s a container built through practice. Democracy survives inside structured collaboration, not slogans.

Listen in for a return to Belfast — and a serious invitation to consider what it would mean to rehearse the future together, here and now.

Bill Cleveland

Host of Art Is Change and author of Art and Upheaval.

David Trimble

Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party and key political figure in the Good Friday Agreement.

George J. Mitchell

U.S. Senator and American peace envoy who chaired the negotiations leading to the Good Friday Agreement.

Joe Egan

Belfast theater director and key figure in the development of The Wedding.

Martin Lynch

Playwright and co-creator of The Wedding, known for community-based theater work in Northern Ireland.

Ulster Unionist Party

Political party central to the post-Agreement negotiations referenced in the episode.

The Good Friday Agreement (1998)

The landmark peace accord that helped end decades of violence known as The Troubles.

Community Arts Forum (CAFÉ)

Belfast-based organization that supported cross-community arts initiatives including The Wedding.

The Shankill–Short Strand Peace Line

One of Belfast’s “peace walls” dividing Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods.

Art and Upheaval by Bill Cleveland

Book documenting community-based cultural work in conflict zones, including three chapters on The Wedding.

The Troubles (Northern Ireland conflict)

Historical overview of the 30-year conflict referenced throughout the episode.

Art Is CHANGE 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 I talk with Arlene Goldbard about her new book that I think takes on a quiet but consequential democratic problem: how, in unstable times, the hunger for certainty can slide into surrender—of discernment, of agency, and responsibility.

Rather than offering answers or heroes, her book The Intercessor uses story to explore how people learn to stay in relationship, inquiry, and ethical choice without handing their power over to charismatic leaders, rigid belief systems, or the promise of spiritual or political shortcuts.

In this conversation, we explore three deeply relevant themes:

1. Intercession as a practice of discernment, and learning how to listen without disappearing yourself in the process.
2. How artists and cultural workers can function as bridges , helping communities resist the pull toward false certainty.
3. And repair as a practiced skill, not an abstract ideal, but rather personal, communal, and spiritual repair that only happens when people remain accountable to one another.

You’re right to call that out. No reason to shrink the ecosystem. Here it is restored—full cast, fuller descriptions, URLs embedded in the titles, and organized by the four categories you’ve been using.

1. Arlene Goldbard: Cultural critic, novelist, painter, and longtime leader in community-based arts. Author of The Intercessor and In the Camp of Angels of Freedom. Her work bridges spiritual inquiry, democratic practice, and cultural organizing.
2. Rabbi Arthur Waskow: Founder of The Shalom Center and a central prophetic voice in Jewish Renewal. A pioneer in linking Jewish spiritual practice with social justice, environmental activism, and interfaith organizing.
3. Rabbi David Wolfe-Blank: Influential Jewish Renewal teacher known for his mystical depth and pedagogical clarity. A formative guide for many Renewal leaders, including Goldbard.
4. Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi: Founder of the Jewish Renewal movement. Brought Hasidic mysticism, experimentation, and interspiritual dialogue into contemporary Jewish life.
5. Paulo Freire: Brazilian educator and author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed. His concept of “conscientization” (critical consciousness) undergirds much community-based arts and democratic cultural practice.

1. ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal: The national umbrella organization for Jewish Renewal communities, ordination programs, and spiritual leadership training.
2. The Shalom Center: A Jewish justice organization founded by Rabbi Arthur Waskow. Engages in interfaith social action rooted in prophetic Jewish tradition.
3. Sefaria: A free, open-access digital library of Jewish texts. Provides bilingual access to Torah, Talmud, Pirkei Avot, and other foundational sources referenced in the episode.

1. October 7, 2023 Attacks and Israel–Gaza War (BBC Overview): Context for the rupture explored in the novel between Sarah and Yasmine—where love collides with ideology, family pressure, and geopolitical trauma.
2. 2024 U.S. Presidential Election (Federal Election Commission Overview): The political backdrop near the novel’s close, underscoring its themes of fear, agency, democratic rehearsal, and moral discernment.

1. The Intercessor: Arlene Goldbard’s novel-in-linked-stories exploring intercession as spiritual practice, discernment, ethical repair, and democratic rehearsal in troubled times.
2. In the Camp of Angels of Freedom: Goldbard’s earlier book of portraits and reflections on spiritual and justice-oriented teachers who shaped her moral imagination.
3. Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire: Foundational text articulating internalized oppression and participatory liberation—key intellectual grounding for community-based cultural work.
4. Song of Songs (Shir HaShirim): Biblical love poetry invoked in the episode as an assignment in praise, eros, and relational repair—an ancient text that insists love sits at the center of existence.
5. Pirkei Avot 2:16 (Ethics of the Fathers): Source of the teaching quoted at the close: “It is not your duty to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it.” A succinct ethic of sustained democratic practice.
6. Overview of the Talmud (My Jewish Learning): Explains the dialogic, argumentative structure of Jewish learning—where disputation itself becomes a form of worship and discernment.

Art Is CHANGE 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 is the Arts Freedom weather report for February 11, 2026. In this episode you'll hear how

1. Artists across the country are turning public space into sites of creative resistance
2. Why local place based cultural responses in cities like New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis and beyond are becoming frontline laboratories for cultural democratic practice
3. And how innovative artist led networks and cultural organizers are teaching resistance as a craft.

People

Bill Cleveland

Host of ART IS CHANGE and founder of the Center for the Study of Art & Community.

Renee Macklin Goode

Minneapolis poet and community member whose killing sparked mass protest, mourning, and cultural resistance. (Minnesota Public Radio)

Nadya Tolokonnikova

Artist and founding member of Pussy Riot; creator of Police State, referenced in connection with durational performance responding to ICE raids and militarization. (Museum of Modern Art)

Daniel C. Walker

Artist whose work G Is for Genocide appeared in the New York exhibition Don’t Look: A Defense of Free Expression.

Khan Nguyen Hong Gu

Artist whose Miami Beach window installation protesting Gaza was removed; cited as an example of censorship pressure. (Artforum)

Madeline Drunot

Denver-based artist whose Little Saigon project became a flashpoint for debate over representation and censorship.

Organizations, Networks & Initiatives

Center for the Study of Art & Community

Producing organization for ART IS CHANGE.

Fall of Freedom Initiative

Grassroots cultural protest effort coordinating hundreds of creative resistance actions nationwide.

NYC Resistance Salon

Artist-led network using digital billboards and public installations for political dissent.

Banned Book Brigade

Activist effort highlighting censorship through public performance and visual protest. (PEN America contextual resource)

New York Public Library

Site of Banned Book Brigade actions and symbolic defense of intellectual freedom.

Pioneer Works

Brooklyn cultural center that hosted benefit performances supporting civil liberties.

Center for Artistic Activism

Organization providing the Artivist Toolbox—practical guidance for artists engaging power strategically.

Beautiful Trouble

Global training and documentation hub for creative resistance tactics and movement strategy.

Community Arts Network Archive

Historic archive documenting debates, essays, and first-person accounts from the community arts field.

Interference Archive

Brooklyn-based archive preserving posters, zines, and material culture of social movements.

Animating Democracy

National initiative documenting how arts intersect with civic life and democratic practice.

Natalie Karg Gallery

New York gallery that hosted Don’t Look: A Defense of Free Expression.

Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles (MOCA)

Initial site of Tolokonnikova’s Police State performance.

Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago

Later site of Police State, as the work’s themes collided with real-time events.

Think Again: An Artist Activist Collaborative

Collective using mobile billboards and public art to engage civic discourse.

Chinatown Art Brigade

Artist-organizer collective linking cultural storytelling to housing justice and anti-displacement work.

Artist Rapid Response Team

Network designing banners and protest visuals that travel across movements and geographies.

Publications & Field Resources

Artivist Toolbox – Center for Artistic Activism

A practical, field-tested toolkit breaking down real campaigns, tactics, risks, and outcomes for artists engaging power. Referenced in the episode as a field manual, not inspiration wallpaper.

Beautiful Trouble: A Toolbox for Revolution

Foundational handbook and ongoing living resource documenting creative resistance tactics, principles, and case studies from movements around the world.

Beautiful Trouble Toolbox

The continually updated, digital extension of the book—cataloging methods like humor, spectacle, narrative framing, and symbolic leverage.

Community Arts Network Archive

Extensive archive of essays, project notes, debates, and first-person accounts from the community arts field, capturing the moment when practitioners were still arguing their practice into existence.

Interference Archive Collection

Public archive preserving posters, zines, banners, and printed matter from social movements—treated not as nostalgia, but as evidence and usable history.

Animating Democracy Resource Library

Long-running documentation project translating cultural action into civic and institutional language without stripping it of meaning; central to understanding arts-based democratic practice.

Banned Books Resource Guide – PEN America

Contextual resource grounding the Banned Book Brigade actions referenced in the episode within the larger national landscape of censorship and free expression.

Art Is CHANGE 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 January 2026 Arts Freedom Weather Report comes from Minneapolis, a city once again at the epicenter of grief, rage, courage, and creative resistance. In the wake of multiple killings, intensified ICE activity, and federal misinformation, communities across Minnesota are responding not only with protest—but with song, ritual, writing, mutual aid, and rapid-response cultural organizing.

In this episode, we explore three urgent realities shaping this moment:

1. How culture becomes infrastructure for democracy when institutions fail—through singing vigils, collective mourning, and grassroots artistic action.
2. What decentralized resistance actually looks like on the ground, as hundreds of small, uncoordinated acts add up to something powerful and sustained.
3. How imagination, grief, and creative practice help people endure and act, especially in communities long accustomed to state violence and surveillance.

Listen in for an on-the-ground report from Minneapolis that shows how artists, organizers, and neighbors are transforming fear into solidarity—and keeping democratic culture alive under pressure.

Bill Cleveland

Host of ART IS CHANGE and founder of the Center for the Study of Art & Community.

Renee Macklin Goode

Minneapolis poet and mother whose life and work are honored in this episode. (Minnesota Public Radio)

Gregory Bovino

U.S. Border Patrol official referenced in discussion of federal enforcement escalation in Minnesota.

Hannah Arendt

Political theorist cited for her insights into authoritarianism, fear, and the erosion of civic imagination.

Christopher Fry

British poet and playwright; excerpt from The Sleep of Prisoners is referenced during the episode.

Marquis Bowie

Minneapolis-based poet, teaching artist, and cultural healer whose reflections on grief, writing, and survival appear in this conversation. (MN Artists / MPR)

Center for the Study of Art & Community

Producing organization for ART IS CHANGE.

Resistance Revival Chorus

National movement using collective singing as protest, courage-building, and democratic practice.

Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church

Host site for large-scale community singing and resistance gatherings in Minneapolis.

Unidos MN

Latino-led organization providing community safety training, constitutional observers, and mutual aid.

Minnesota Arts & Cultural Coalition

Statewide coalition organizing legal briefings, advocacy, and shared resources for arts organizations.

Forecast Public Art

Minneapolis-based organization providing rapid-response grants and support to artists and cultural leaders.

Minneapolis Arts Commission

City commission supporting and advising on arts policy and cultural resources

Mad Dog 30/30 by Marquis Bowie

Poetry collection by Minneapolis poet and teaching artist Marquis Bowie, exploring grief, rage, tenderness, survival, and Black interior life. The book is referenced in the episode in connection with Bowie’s role as a cultural healer and witness in moments of community trauma.

The Sleep of Prisoners by Christopher Fry

Verse play referenced through an excerpt read during the episode, reflecting on war, conscience, and moral reckoning.ence, and moral reckoning.

George Floyd Square

Referenced as part of the geographic and emotional landscape shaping current events. (New York Times)

San Pablo Lutheran Church

Site of memorial services and community gathering following Renee Nicole Goode’s death.

From FreeSound.org

Winterstorm II: A Cinematic and ambient soundscape by kjartan_abel -- https://freesound.org/s/552032/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Winterstorm II: A Cinematic and ambient soundscape by kjartan_abel -- https://freesound.org/s/552032/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Chord Swell - Gmin by Moqally -- https://freesound.org/s/843450/ -- License: Attribution 4.0

Art Is CHANGE 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're joined by Alan Jenkins, civil rights lawyer, former Ford foundation program director, Harvard Law School professor, and now comic book author, for a wide ranging conversation about story making and telling as a tool for social change. From Supreme Court litigation to graphic novels, Alan Jenkins traces how law, narrative, and culture intersect when democracy is at stake.

So in our conversation, we explore three big ideas I think matter a lot right now:

1. First, why is story inseparable from power?And how law, policy, and culture work together, whether we acknowledge it or not, to shape public belief and behavior.
2. Next, how popular culture and art have historically been used to confront authoritarianism. From Superman and Captain America to global protest movements that borrow symbol, humor, and myth.
3. And finally, what hybrid 21st century leadership looks like and why flexibility, empathy, and imagination may be as important as specialized expertise in this moment.

Bill Cleveland

Host of ART IS CHANGE and founder of the Center for the Study of Art & Community.

Alan Jenkins

Harvard Law School professor; former civil rights and DOJ lawyer; former Director of Human Rights at the Ford Foundation; co-author of 1/6: The Graphic Novel.

Anthony S. Fauci

Former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; referenced in discussion of ACT UP and activist pressure shaping public institutions.

Charles Lindbergh

Aviator and political figure cited in discussion of American isolationism and authoritarian sympathies prior to World War II.

Pablo Picasso

Artist whose painting Guernica is referenced as a defining cultural response to fascist violence.

Harvard Law School

Institution where Alan Jenkins teaches courses on civil rights law, narrative, and Supreme Court jurisprudence.

NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund

Civil rights organization where Jenkins worked early in his legal career.

United States Department of Justice

Referenced in connection with Jenkins’s Supreme Court litigation experience.

Ford Foundation

Global philanthropy where Jenkins served as Director of Human Rights.

Pop Culture Collaborative

Organization that supported research on popular culture and resistance to authoritarianism referenced in the episode.

Western States Center

Organization that produced the civic action guide accompanying 1/6: The Graphic Novel.

San Diego State University

Institution that developed an educational guide for teaching with 1/6: The Graphic Novel.

1/6: The Graphic Novel

Graphic novel co-created by Alan Jenkins imagining a future in which the January 6 insurrection succeeded.

Seven Things Artists, Entertainers, and Creatives Can Do to Protect Democracy

Alan Jenkins' article describing seven strategies that creatives in the arts can use to protect democracy from Eastern Europe to Southeast Asia to West Africa to Latin America.

January 6, 2021 United States Capitol Attack

Historical event central to the episode’s discussion of democracy, narrative, and authoritarianism.

ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power)

Activist movement referenced for its strategic use of protest, narrative framing, and moral urgency.

Superman

Comic book character cited as an early example of popular culture advancing social justice narratives.

Captain America

Referenced for his first appearance punching Adolf Hitler—months before U.S. entry into WWII.

The Hunger Games

Film and book series referenced for its three-finger salute adopted by real-world protest movements.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Graphic memoir referenced for its portrayal of authoritarianism and women’s lives during the Iranian Revolution.

Guernica by Pablo Picasso

Iconic painting referenced as a lasting artistic indictment of fascist violence.

Art Is CHANGE 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.