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

Explore creative community transformation with teaching artist Jeff Mather as he shares stories of art, collaboration, and social change in education. Jeff Mather's work as a teaching artist and public art digital storytelling alchemist underscores the vital role of art in fostering community resilience and engagement. The conversation with Bill Cleveland reveals how, despite the challenges posed...

Rebecca Rice, a pioneering community artist, transformed her personal experiences into a powerful advocacy for marginalized voices through art. Her journey began in a challenging neighborhood in Chicago, where she discovered her passion for performance and community engagement. This podcast explores her belief that every individual, regardless of their visibility, contributes to the intricate tape...

Given the differences in power, and definitions of success, how can arts and change collaborations between institutions of higher learning and their local communities be equitable and accountable? And how can change oriented artists practice effectively and ethically with a foot in each camp? Billy Yalowitz has had a career as a theater director and choreographer that I think provides provocative...

How do you describe a Laurie Meadoff? Start off with a big heart, add a piercing intellect, an insatiable curiosity, and a gargantuan exploding fireworks extravaganza of an imagination. Then add that she's a can't-sit-still, serial do-gooder problem solver who translates the word " NO " in any language, as the starting gun for the next story in the million chapter book she's been living, entitled...

Dr. Banerji: In this episode of 'Change the Story, Change the World,' Bill Cleveland explores the inspiring journey of Dr. Subhasis Banerji, a bioengineer from Singapore. Dr. Banerji shares how he utilized the interplay between art, science, and the human mind to help brain-injured and stroke patients recover. After suffering severe injuries himself, Dr. Banerji’s personal tale of recovery through...

When I describe BIGhART to folks in the US they accuse me of making it up. In this episode re-broadcast Scott Rankin, BIGhART’s founder, describes how this expansive, constantly morphing, multi-disciplinary, thirty-year long enterprise became one of the world's leading arts and social change organizations. This is first of two episodes featuring Scott. You can listen to Chapter 2 HERE BIO Scott co...

This is the second episode of a two part show we are rebroadcasting called BIGhART, BIGsTORY which tell the saga of a creative synergistic Australian force of nature called, of course BIGhART.  BIGhART is Australia's leading arts and social change organization. We make art, we build communities, we drive change. 30 years in operation, 62 communities engaged, 47 awards won, 550 artists co...

Join us in a deep dive into the transformative power of art and conflict resolution with Cynthia Cohen. From powerful personal stories to groundbreaking projects, this episode is a testament to the power of creative peacebuilding. In this episode we explore artmaking and peacemaking as mutually supporting, synergistic community assets. Our conversation, with activist, writer, educator, and filmmak...

Join Bill Cleveland in a special bonus episode as we explore the incredible 50-year journey of Alternate R OOTS a nonprofit arts organization dedicated to social and economic justice. Featuring insightful conversations with Roots staffers Aimee McCoy and Clarissa Crawford , this episode delves into the diverse contributions of artists in tackling community issues, the importance of membership, and...

 🌟 "Change the Story, Change the World" is back with the FURTHER, Further Adventures of Lenwood O. Sloan! Dive into our conversation on woke culture, historical monuments, and the power of public art. Don't miss this engaging episode! #Podcast #ArtAndCommunity #ChangeTheWorld 🎙️ In this episode of 'Change the Story, Change the World,' Bill Cleveland continues his conversation with Lenwood O....

Further Adventures of L. O. Sloan In this milestone 100th episode, Bill Cleveland engages in a deep, reflective, and often humorous conversation with his longtime friend and legendary activist, actor, dancer, playwright, impresario, and historian, Lenwood Sloan. The discussion spans many topics, including Sloan's incredible career in the arts, his reflections on social change, and the societal imp...

In this episode we continue our conversation with Barbara Schaffer Bacon and Pam Korza, co-directors of Animating Democracy. The discussion centers on the role of arts in fostering civic dialogue and community engagement, particularly around challenging social issues. We explore several case studies of arts-based community projects, including: 1.    The restoration of a King Ka...

Animating Democracy Can the Arts Save Democracy? This episode explores how creative practices can reinvigorate American democracy by bridging societal divides. Featuring insights from Pam Korza and Barbara Schaefer Bacon, we delve into how Animating Democracy has supported arts-based civic dialogue and collective action in communities across the country. We highlight impactful projects such as Tra...

"I think unless we embody sensibilities, we connect the head, the heart and the body. We don't have a complete range of experience and expression are limited in what we think, feel and see, and so I have integrated the body into everything I've done. Judith Marcuse Judith Marcuse is one of Canada’s senior artist/producers with a career that spans over 40 years of professional work as a dancer, cho...

Can the right song, painting, or museum exhibit spark real political change? What if culture is the missing strategy in today’s social movements? From the Center for the Study of Art & Community, this is Change the Story / Change the World: A chronicle of art and social change, where activist artists and cultural organizers share and learn what they need to thrive as creative change agents. My...

Born and raised in Mexico City Jose Antonio Aguirre has become internationally recognized for his venetian glass mosaic, and carved limestone murals many of which explore the people, places, and stories he has encountered as an artist who exists in two cultures bound by the Mexican and American bi-national spaces he has occupied for four decades. The Journey of Jose Antonio Aguirre In this episode...

Can community theater help mend our broken and conflicted communities? In this episode Ash Hanson shares the story of what she and her many citizen collaborators have learned about how our place stories can help our communities not only heal but find new resilience and common ground. BIO Ash Hanson (she/her) has two decades of experience working with rural communities to activate stories, connect...

Michael McCarty in my prison workshops, they say. “Storytelling, you're going to show us how to tell the Three Little Pigs? ” I say, “Every living person has at least one story they need to tell. And (telling) that story will help them in their relationship with the people around them, and the world, and more importantly, with themselves. BIO Michael McCarty: Mother always told me stories. I began...

Robert Farid Karimi The "inbetween" is often ignored. It is also the juicy territory that this week’s guest, comedian, chef, poet, educator, and activist Robert Farid Karimi has been investigating over the last couple of decades. like many of our guests Robert, who is also known as Mero Cocinero, Farid Mercury, the Peoples Chef , and even in some quarters, Betty Crocker's radical heir apparent, Ro...

In this episode we continue down the path of the provocative and unexpected with Salty Xi Jie Ng. Along the way we will encounter the secret lives of art gallery security staff, a cooking show called Microwave Magic , bunion fetishes, and a very funny group of incarcerated artists.  BE SURE TO LISTEN TO EPISODE 36 - CITIZEN SCHOLAR OF THE COSMOS - ACT 1 BIO Salty Xi Jie Ng co-creates semi-fic...

Episode Pull back the curtain on one of Salty's works and there's no telling what you will find -- a film, a party, an intimate discussion, a festival, a newspaper, a concert, a feast, and more often than, not an invitation to decide whether you want to participate as an audience member. or as part of the show. BIO Salty Xi Jie Ng co-creates semi-fictional paradigms for the real and imagined lives...

CACHIRU & Magdelina and Jose Since we published Episode 28 featuring Normando Ismay, the loving trickster we have had requests for some of Normando's performances. He has been kind enough to share two pieces that we are presenting here. The first is Normando's telling of a traditional South American Story called Cachiru adapted by Normando with his own accompaniment on quena and bombo. The sec...

Normando Ismay – A Loving Trickster Normando Ismay was born in the city of All the Saints of the New Rioja in northwest Argentina. As a young adult, he came to the United States, settling in Atlanta to pursue a career as a visual artist. Since then, he has worked in a variety of media including metal, painting, sculpture and installation art. He built a barn-like structure in his backyar...

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 ARTS ON PRESCRIPTION WEBINAR OPP : Looking for an opportunity to reimagine what health is and how we create it? TUNE IN...

BIGhART is Australia's leading arts and social change organization. We make art, we build communities, we drive change. 30 years in operation, 62 communities engaged, 47 awards won, 550 artists contributed, 9, 500 people participated, 2. 6 million audience members. BIO Scott Rankin co-founded Big hART with friend John Bakes in 1992. As CEO and Creative Director, Scott leads the overarching vision...