True Connection is a non-profit organization based in Los Angeles, driven by young female visionaries who set out to reach new horizons in healing, empowerment, education, and community building. We are pioneering a truly innovative “Healing Arts Program,” which integrates trauma education, expressive arts therapy, and natural healing techniques and modalities to help children recover, learn and grow from their traumatic life experiences.
Without water, life would not exist. And yet, those of us in developed countries take it for granted; our shelves are stocked with hundreds of branded bottles, and it is freely given at restaurants, at schools, and even in parks. We seem to have an unslakable thirst for it; attained in excess, we throw it away like dirt—just as many developing countries liken its value to gold.
Students at the NYC iSchool, a high school in Manhattan, worked for 9 weeks to create works of activist art with art teacher Gretel Smith. We were lucky enough to have Stephen Duncomb and Steve Lambert from the Center for Artistic Activism come to our class to teach a lesson inspiring students to think like activists; they came back later to critique students’ works-in-progress.
On a sidewalk in the Village in downtown Manhattan, an African-American woman leans on her elbows and knees, wearing only black underpants. Scrawled in black marker all over her body are the words "Ain't I a Woman?"
Across the street, another woman lies face down, sunbathing on a large sheet of tinfoil. The sentence "White Supremacy Is Terrorism" is inked across her white skin, which is turning pink under the hot sun.
Two climate change activists targeted an Emily Carr painting at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Saturday.
In a social media post by the account Stop Fracking Around on Twitter, a video shows two activists dousing a painting with an unknown liquid that is said to be maple syrup per the tweet.
The two activists then apparently glued themselves to the wall underneath the painting.
Jessica Williams talks about women's experiences with street harassment in New York with a satirical approach on how to avoid this unwanted attention.
http://www.cc.com/video-clips/5ndnit/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-jes...
"At the recent Amnesty International Annual General Meeting, we decided to do an action stating we stand with Shaima Alawadi and Trayvon Martin. Check out the action, even Asma Mahfouz, one of the founders of the April 6th Movement in Egypt and nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize participated in the action." -#MillionHijabMarch
'Gun-sharing' stations in Chicago use art to make a point about gun violence.
Users can’t actually grab a gun from the stations, but its creators hope the installation will send a message about how disturbingly easy it is for a citizen to acquire an assault weapon—as easy as renting a bike. They can also make a donation to the Brady Center and learn more about the campaign's gun safety efforts.
In the Fall of 2011, after the Occupy Movement was in full swing, and meetings, actions and info sharing had expanded beyond Zuccotti Park, meaningful messaging and outreach tactics were were activated on a near daily basis.
It was 1974 when Beuys arrived in New York City, ready to tackle a whole new challenge and create what was to become one of the most famous works of art of the time. Upon arrival, his assistants wrapped him in a large piece of felt and transported him, by ambulance, to the René Block Gallery in SoHo. There, awaiting the artist, was a live coyote. Beuys spent three consecutive days, eight hours at a time, locked up with the wild animal.
The rap duo Macklemore and Ryan Lewis has broken records with their hits “Thrift Shop” and “Can’t Hold Us.” And now, with their pro-marriage equality hit “Same Love,” which features out lesbian Mary Lambert, they’re shattering stereotypes.
For the past 20 years, Great Bend school district art teachers have been letting their students collaborate on an art project at the Barton County Historical Society Museum. This year, they will ground their efforts in working together to make a mural. Their teachers are trying to instill the fact that art builds community, as it has here for the past two decades.
Northeast Minneapolis is going to have the first full-fledged water bar of its kind, an establishment where you can sit and drink a variety of local tap waters to your heart’s content. Their delightful motto: “Water is all we have.”
WASH CLOTHES :: MAKE ART :: BUILD COMMUNITY
The Laundromat Project brings engaging, community-responsive art and artists into local coinops across Greater New York City. By helping turn imaginations into creative fuel, we empower communities of color living on modest incomes to dream new visions for their own neighborhoods.
To raise awareness among the general public about the global clean water crisis, the artist Belo created an image composed of 66,000 cups of colored rainwater simulating levels of impurities found in water all over the planet. This major work of 3,600 square feet, representing a fetus in the maternal womb, emphasizes the necessity of water, even before birth, for each living person.
What is Francis Alÿs known for?
Francis Alÿs is known for using poetic and metaphorical techniques to highlight the political and social realities of his city. Often, the issues he addresses range from national border politics to globalism and areas of conflict in his community and the effects of modernism.
Instagram and Zines have become a tool for activists worldwide, and Vienna Rye (@vrye) has amassed over 126,000 followers by promoting education, mutual aid, and advocacy. They are a self-taught visual artist and revolutionary community organizer, which translates into their artwork. Vienna visualized a better world to build it. To do this, they use her art to confront settler colonialism, racism, and patriarchy.
Watch Gabriel Frilando (aka CheatDeathNYC) cycle through the streets of New York City in this short film of remembrance made by NYC based, Argentinian born, director/ cinematographer Nicolás de Miranda.
Speaking about this personal project Nicolás says:
Media artist Joseph DeLappe announces the completion of “The Drone Project: A Participatory Memorial” on the campus of Fresno State University in California.
In June of 1987, a small group of strangers gathered in a San Francisco storefront to document the lives they feared history would neglect. Their goal was to create a memorial for those who had died of AIDS, and to thereby help people understand the devastating impact of the disease.
Starting in 2019 out of the East Harlem neighborhood in New York, Watermelon has served as recurring series of cookout-themed events that are 100% vegan, while also centering BIPOC businesses. People from all over the city come to the reoccurring events to enjoy different vegan recipes and learn about different aspects of the vegan lifestyle and activism. Brands and organizations are welcome to participate upon coordination with the organizers.
Inspired by the ecological disaster unfolding across the planet and driven by empowering underrepresented people, Moule, a painter, illustrator, and graphic designer, creates art that makes a statement.
Dressed in a magenta blazer and wearing bright pink lipstick, she is as colourful and spirited as one of her illustrations.
There were still bloodstains outside the Midwood Mobil gas station on Friday night; a fresh sign taped to a lamppost read “A Hate Crime Happened Here.” This is the place where, less than a week prior, 28-year-old O’Shae Sibley, a gay Black dancer and choreographer, made a pit stop with friends after a Jersey beach day.
At 12:00 noon (New York time) on November 19, 2016, Chinese artist Ning Kong, wearing a wedding dress with hundred dove, appeared at the 911 site in New York. Even though the theme of performance art is calling for peace, the police banned it and showed the handcuffs because doing performance art was not allowed at the 9/11 site. So Kong Ning turned to Times Square, New York, successfully completing her performance art.
Sometimes justice requires a little imagination. On Saturday, when
much of the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York was loudly
denouncing police violence against minorities and protesters, a small
group of environmentalists dreamed up a way to get the police to focus
on the crimes of the 1 percent, to the point of arresting five corporate
suits on United Nations property.