Creative resilience amplifies artists advancing social change

Artists have long played a key role in the advancement of social movements. For gun violence and climate change, workers rights and racial justice, artists have challenged assumptions, sparked conversation, imagined new solutions and promoted action for positive change. 

Favianna Rodriguez, one of the many artists participating in Creative Resilience, described artists and social movements this way in her 2013 essay titled Change the Culture, Change the World. "You may attend a rally or vote, but you also read books, listen to music, engage with visual art, turn on the radio and create your identity through culture. Artists are central, not peripheral, to social change. To have the movements that make the wave, you need cultural workers." 

At Creative Resilience, we are putting a spotlight on art that takes attendees on a journey through the history of LA labor and into its future by exploring  topics of mutual aid, collective action and rising up against systems rooted in capitalism and white supremacy that keep us from thriving.

From Hank Willis Thomas – who works with themes related to race, identity, history and pop culture – to Shepard Fairey who’s work touches on topics from politics to human rights and war across the globe, these artists have been shaping movements for years and changing hearts and minds, and giving inspiration to millions of people. 

The Creative Resilience gallery also will feature work from up-and-coming artists making progress both in and outside the studio. South Central LA native Kayla Salisbury runs Coloured Art Studio Nonprofit, which focuses on nurturing the artistic expression of Black and Brown communities throughout South Central. She uses art to inspire ideas about how Black and Brown people should be visually portrayed, and her work captures and communicates the beauty of Black bodies. 

The work of all the talented artists featured at Creative Resilience will appear alongside musical performances, educational workshops and a mutual aid expo designed to amplify the voices of BIPOC Angeleno workers and celebrate the shared cultural history of resilience. 

The Creative Resilience experience will take place from Saturday, Oct. 8, through Sunday, Oct. 15 at 1922 E 7th Pl. Los Angeles, CA 90021. For more information, check out the Creative Resilience website. If you’re not in Los Angeles, you can follow the excitement  on Instagram and Facebook.