• Community arts became my initial quest in the 1980’s as a reaction against the commercial art world. How can art participate in a functional way to connect not just art educated people, but our overall communities on issues affecting them that have meaning and purpose. Can we just speak about these issues or can we actually have it be transformative in some way to actually lead to some kind of social or policy change within  the community by bringing people together and getting them working together.

Felicia Young is the founder and executive director of Earth Celebrations, a non-profit organization engaging communities to effect ecological and social change through the arts. 

Felicia has developed a methodology utilizing the arts and the theatrical pageant art form, along with civic engagement and activism. 

She’s a 3rd generation New Yorker, with deep roots in the City of New York, as well as much inspiration from the festivals, ceremonies, and mythic dramas from her mother’s native land of India.

I’ve never met Felicia in person but I know about her work through social media such as the YouTube video Celebrations Director Felicia Young - 30 Years of Cultural Organizing for Ecological Change. 

In particular I was moved by Felicia’s response to a question I ask all of my guests about how to prepare for the end of the world as we know it : 

• I don't just see it as doom and gloom because I have been directly involved in 30 years of local people who've just moved forward with implementing these solutions without waiting for the government … My involvement has always been at the grassroots level. And on that, I'm encouraged, but where I'm afraid is the overall political system where we see our elected officials owned by the industries that are doing all of the polluting and controlling the bigger picture, but are we just going to be paralyzed because they're doing the wrong thing and not go ahead with what we know is right? 

This is the first in a series of conversations about community engaged arts, their contribution to society. My second all be e173 with Kelly McInnes. 

Felicia suggested the following reading and listening materials : 

• Center for Artistic Activism resources
• William Cleveland’s podcast on community engagement and the arts
• eco art space publications
• Artists and Climate Change facebook page

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END NOTES FOR ALL EPISODES

Hey conscient listeners, 

I’ve been producing the conscient podcast as a learning and unlearning journey since May 2020. It’s my way to give back.

This Indigenous Land Acknowledgement statement was developed by members of the Algonquin community for my former employer the Canada Council for the Arts. I have adapted slightly to make it my own.

• I acknowledge that my studio, located in Ottawa, is on the unceded, unsurrendered Territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation whose presence here reaches back to time immemorial.
• I recognize the Algonquins as the customary keepers and defenders of the Ottawa River Watershed and its tributaries. I honour their long history of welcoming many Nations to this beautiful territory and uphold and uplift the voice and values of our Host Nation.
• Further, I offer my respect and affirm the inherent and Treaty Rights of all Indigenous Peoples across this land and honour commitments to self-determination and sovereignty that have been made to Indigenous Nations and Peoples.
• I acknowledge the historical oppression of lands, cultures and the original Peoples in what we now know as Canada and fervently believe the Arts contribute to the healing and decolonizing journey we all share together

In parallel with the production of the conscient podcast and its francophone counterpart, balado conscient, I I publish a free ‘a calm presence' monthly Substack see https://acalmpresence.substack.com.

Your feedback is always welcome at [email protected] and/or on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Threads, BlueSky, Mastodon, Tik Tok, YouTube and Substack.

Share what you like, etc

I am grateful and accountable to the earth and the human labour that provided me with the privilege of producing this podcast, including the toxic materials and extractive processes behind the computers, recorders, transportation systems and infrastructure that made this production possible. 

Claude Schryer

Latest update on January 9, 2026