Art X Change

Olga de Klein, Ann Law, and Jaime Peterson and I cofounded the Art X Change group are proposing the creation of a multi-phased collaborative art-installation that would engage processes and capacities developed in the EMCarts Artists as Change Agents within Complexity. The first phase will be created by myself, Olga de Klein, Ann Law, and Jaime Peterson with more phases to follow engaging groups of four artists. EMCarts is an organization that leads workshops, coaching sessions, and intensive labs rooted in artistic practices designed to strengthen individuals, organizations, and communities capacity to respond to complex challenges through collaboration, experimentation and utilizing assets (https://emcarts.org). In 2018 EMCarts facilitated the workshop in Chattanooga, accepting ten local artists to partake in the two full weekend sessions; I was one of the selected artists. The work has been incredibly impactful in my practice as a community-based artist and equipped me to better facilitate community-driven public art projects. 

The EMCarts Artists as Change Agents within Complexity in August of 2018 had a profound effect on the ten Chattanooga-based participating artists. The EmcArts Team (Eric Booth, Liz Dreyer, and Kirya Traber) asked for volunteers to design and lead the following Friday evening activities. Four artists stepped forward to explore the role of the facilitator when coming together as a community and questioning underlying assumptions. During their month of planning; Shea Brill, Olga de Klein, Ann Law, and Jaime Peterson realized that their work together within the Five Capabilities and cross-disciplinary experiments enhanced their innovative and adaptive responses, creating a very positive collaboration. Now, these Artists As Change Agents are ready to fulfill another aspect of EmcArts’ outcomes by providing support and resources to other community artists so that others can utilize these unique assets and expand this amazing network.   Artists As Change Agents’ Impact and PartnershipsAs this group of facilitating artists clarified their goals, they realized the importance of the art-making process in addressing social issues and problems. They will engage with their community by being strategically transparent so that the art experience occurs before the information component. It is imperative that this experience activates the artistry of others and empowers artists to lead.