creativity as social justice

My experiences facilitating creative processes in community settings, schools, mental health care facilities, with incarcerated men, women, and children, and unhoused people have shaped my understanding and belief that art-making is a radical form of social justice. Access to the arts is a privilege systematically denied to many, entrenching a classist understanding of creative expression and who’s allowed to do it. Those who have had fewer opportunities to engage with and be supported in the arts are often quick to minimize their abilities; I regularly hear people walk into their first art class and say, “I’m not good at art, I can’t even draw a straight line”.

As a society, we accept narratives that tell us what should be, rarely taking time to understand the complexities and nuances of what is. From the squiggles that flow from our hands to the thoughts our brains naturally think and want to express, learning to honor these intuited actions allow us to embody our full being and shift our understanding of and roles in upholding systemic injustices. As the future of a more just society is dependent on the ability of every person to speak their truth, creativity opens our hearts, spirits, and minds to the infiniteness already existing within ourselves.

a collaborative installation created in partnership with students from Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy and four professional artists