Jake Runestad joins me on this episode. Jake Runestad is a well known choral composer and we talked about several of his compositions, many of which have to do with issues of social change. But we also had a very deep conversation about his composition, Please Stay. "Please Stay" is an anthem for hope — an attempt to destigmatize mental illness and challenge all of us to support those who are battling depression and thoughts of suicide. Suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in the United States, taking the lives of 44,965 Americans in 2016.

For some people, depression may lead to thoughts of suicide. Try to remember that you don't have to act on these thoughts, no matter how overwhelming they might be. If you're considering ending your life, it's important that you talk to someone right away. If you're in a crisis, you can also call The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK to get immediate help.

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Jake Runestad's Music

Please Stay

Please Stay - YouTube

Dreams of the Fallen

We Can Mend the Sky

Rise Up

To Write Love On Her Arms

Roomful of Teeth

Dominick Argento - Walden Pond

Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir

American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

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Michaela Miragliotta from the ARTE organization in New York City joins me on today's episode. Art and Resistance Through Education (ARTE) is an organization that uses art, design, and technology to empower young people to develop creative solutions and bring awareness to local and global human rights challenges, fostering leadership opportunities to train and organize other young people in their own communities.

Michaela and I talk about the mission and vision of ARTE and about their Global Women Heroes project. If you are in NYC, make sure to check out the mural! The mural is located outside the Harlem Tavern at 2153 Frederick Douglass Boulevard.

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Global Women Heroes Project

Mural Location: 2153 Frederick Douglass Blvd New York, NY 10026

Leymah Gbowee

Dolores Huerta

Bree Newsome

Michelle Obama

Malala Yousafzai

Leena Kejriwal

Kehinde Wiley

Clare Kambhu

Wangechi Mutu

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh

Bryan Stevenson

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Watie White joins me on today's show. This is part 2 of my interview with Watie White. Working as a painter, printmaker and public artist, Watie has been based in Omaha since 2006. Watie's work has been shown nationally and internationally including at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Telfair Museums, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Frist Center for the Arts, The Mint Museum, and Joslyn Art Museum.

Watie White's site-specific social practice has led to large-scale public art projects with Omaha area nonprofits: Habitat For Humanity-Omaha, InCOMMON Community Development, Justice For Our Neighbors-NE, Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance and Omaha Public Schools. Watie has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards including the Puffin Foundation, Nebraska Arts Council, Humanities Nebraska, and the Mid-America Arts Alliance.

In this part of the interview, Watie and I talk about his 100 People project.

Part 1 Interview - Episode 003

100 People Project

GalleriesProject Project Gallery 72 Benson Petshop Gallery Darger HQ Gallery

OrganizationsBenson Theatre Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts Omaha Creative Institute Omaha Creative Institute - Artist INC

Artists

Jave Yoshimoto Angie Seykora - Website Angie Seykora - Instagram William Kentridge Kerry James Marshall Andy Goldsworthy

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Watie White joins me on today's show. This is part 1 of a 2 part series with Watie White. Working as a painter, printmaker and public artist, Watie has been based in Omaha since 2006. Watie's work has been shown nationally and internationally including at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Telfair Museums, Dixon Gallery and Gardens, Frist Center for the Arts, The Mint Museum, and Joslyn Art Museum.

Watie White's site-specific social practice has led to large-scale public art projects with Omaha area nonprofits: Habitat For Humanity-Omaha, InCOMMON Community Development, Justice For Our Neighbors-NE, Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance and Omaha Public Schools. Watie has been the recipient of numerous grants and awards including the Puffin Foundation, Nebraska Arts Council, Humanities Nebraska, and the Mid-America Arts Alliance.

In this first part of the interview, Watie and I talk about his background and about his Lead Stories project with Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance.

Stockyard Institute

Jim Duignan

Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance

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Justin Kemerling joins me on today's show. Justin is an independent designer, activist, and collaborator living in Omaha, Nebraska focused on making it beautiful, moving people to action, and getting good things done.

He works primarily with community organizations, political campaigns, and changemaking startups in need of branding, graphic design, web design, and art direction. His self-initiated projects and collaborations explore ways to move forward important causes and ideas with design, art, and other forms of creative expression.

Justin's artwork has been exhibited in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and regularly in Omaha.

I had a great time talking with Justin about not only design, but also about how art can move people to action. We also talk about his project Power to the Poster which you can check out at powertotheposter.com.

Power to the Poster

All of Them - Blue Collar Group

Welcome - Jesse Purcell

Angie Seykora - Website

Angie Seykora - Instagram

Dan Crane - Website

Dan Crane - InstagramThe Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers - AmazonJanelle MonáeThe Union for Contemporary Art (Omaha)

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Amanda Barr joins me on today's show. Amanda is an artist, curator, educator, writer, and social media strategist living in Seattle as a long-term resident artist at Pottery Northwest. Her work has been shown internationally, and currently deals with political and social inequality through historical references.

Amanda shares her journey of becoming a ceramic artists in a non-traditional way and her work in starting the nonprofit, We Are Not Invisible.

We Are Not Invisible was originally known as simply "(in)Visible," which was proposed as a Concurrent Exhibition to be presented at the 2018 conference for the National Council on Education for the Ceramic Arts in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, curated by Amanda Barr. They are a group of 30+ femme and non-binary artists working in ways that express our need to be heard. We make art about gender, sexuality, culture, religion, race, oppression, class, mental illnesses, physical disability, motherhood, societal demands on women, politics, and more.

Enjoy the show!

Show Notes:

Emily Shroeder Willis on Instagram Emily Shroeder Willis - Halo Vase Vilma Villaverde Vilma Villaverde Motherhood Carole Epp Carole Epp Instagram

The Alienist on Netflix Dan Rather on Facebook Pottery is Political Instagram Page The Root

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We Are Not Invisible Website We Are Not Invisible Instagram We Are Not Invisible Facebook

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​

An introduction to the Voices Creating Change podcast.

Voices Creating Change presents stories of social change initiatives through the arts.  Our conversations open possibilities beyond the limitations that underrepresented populations face daily, specifically in the arts. 

Hosted by Amanda Stevenson, episodes will release every Friday.

Find us at @vccpod on Twitter, the Voices Creating Change page on Facebook, or at https://www.voicescreatingchange.com/.