Projects with Clear Short-Term Goals

These projects all have short-term goals. Ideally each contributes to a campaign with a clear, well-defined path to a goal. Ideally, there are targets—people, institutions—that the project (and/or campaign) pressures and which, if pressured, can help achieve the goal.
Painting homes to strengthen a community
Practitioner:
Pintando Santa Catarina Palopó
Date:
Nov 15 2017

Nestled on the banks of Lake Atitlán in Guatemala, Santa Catarina Palopó is a small town brimming with vibrant colors and stunning natural views. Despite its natural beauty and cultural heritage, the community struggled with economic development and poverty for years until they had the opportunity to harness the power of art and transform the town.

Cowboy Carter - Beyoncé’s Act of Reclamation
Practitioner:
Beyonce
Date:
Mar 29 2024

Can’t say she didn’t warn us: As per her Instagram message last week, Cowboy Carter, the Act II sequel to 2022’s Renaissance, is a Beyoncé album, not a country album.

Shining a spotlight on domestic violence – the Women’s House (Sunglasses) project
Practitioner:
Sanja Iveković
Date:
Jun 28 1998

Croatian artist Sanja Iveković started Women’s House (Sunglasses) in 1998 in collaboration with a women’s shelter in Zagreb and later with women’s shelters elsewhere in Europe and Asia. Iveković organised workshops with women in these shelters to produce plaster casts of their faces, as well as to give them the space to write their life stories.

Social change through music
Practitioner:
Jose Antonio Abreu
Date:
Jan 1 1975

El Sistema, also known as The National System of Youth and Children’s Orchestra and Choir, was established in Venezuela in 1975 by José Antonio Abreu, a Venezuelan educator, musician and activist. The music education program operates within the voluntary sector and is funded publicly.

This Taiwanese Calligrapher Brings a Message of Freedom to the Met
Practitioner:
Tong Yang-Tze
Date:
Nov 9 2024

The boulders hiding in the alcove of Tong Yang-Tze’s apartment testify to this Taiwanese calligrapher’s daunting perfectionism.

When an orchestra director negotiated his cachet in trees
Practitioner:
Claudio Abbado
Date:
Sep 9 2009

Claudio Abbado was an Italian orchestra director (1933 - 2014) who served as chief director at La Scala Theater in Milan from 1968 - 1985. After 18 years of absence, in 2009, he was invited to conduct a concert there. He accepted upon condition that, instead of paying him a monetary honorarium, the city would commit to the planing of 90.000 trees in the city of Milan.

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