Amplifying Voices Through Art

Art as a Catalyst for Change

Author

LaShauna Austria
July 15, 2025

Art as a Catalyst for Change

Welcome to our July edition:  Amplifying Voices Through Art. In a moment where social and environmental inequities demand urgent attention, artivism and creativity rooted in activism offers a potent path toward dialogue, understanding, and transformation. Through this newsletter, we celebrate North Carolina’s inspiring BIPOC artists and collectives, elevate voices like our friend Dyalekt, and invite you to explore the meaningful intersections of art, justice, and community. Join us as we discover how art can inform, inspire, and ignite real change.

What is Artivism? 

It's about leveraging artistic and creative practices to spark social change, dismantle ingrained narratives, and mobilize collective efforts. Artivistism utilizes a wide range of art forms, including visual arts (painting, murals, street art, sculpture, photography, digital art), performance art (theater, dance, protests with artistic elements), music and spoken word, film and video, and literature.

You'll often hear it called 'social artivism' or 'artistic activism’. Artivists work to:

Shine a light on pressing social issues, injustices, and environmental threats.

Disrupt existing frameworks, questioning how power operates and challenging inequality and discrimination.

Ignite a desire for change, empowering people to step up and contribute to a better future.

Build bridges of understanding, using art to create emotional connections and spark important conversations.

Why does Artivism matter?

Artivism is crucial as it uses art's emotional power to connect deeply with people, making complex issues relatable and cutting through information overload. By challenging dominant narratives and elevating the voices of those who have and continue to be furthest from justice, it inspires action beyond traditional activism. It also helps sustain movements and leaves a lasting historical record, making it an indispensable tool for social change.

Project Spotlight

Sherrill Roland: Wearing Injustice to Remove Stigma

Charlotte-based artist Sherrill Roland transforms personal trauma into public teaching through The Jumpsuit Project. After a wrongful conviction and 10-month detention in D.C., Roland wore an orange jumpsuit daily during his MFA thesis and subsequent public performances. Within a 7 × 9-foot “cell,” he initiated intimate conversations, challenging viewers to reflect on incarceration and empathy.

Roland’s work extends beyond performance: he engages youth in juvenile centers, inspiring them to share their stories and reclaim their narratives. His use of multimedia, prison dialogue, and symbolic form dismantles stigma and reconnects communities with humanity. Discover more and find upcoming events or volunteer opportunities on his website.

Iximché Media is a bilingual digital content and audiovisual production agency based in rural North Carolina. We believe that stories cultivate community and that narratives transform how we see the world. We focus our lens on the stories often left out of the frame because every community, every person, has a story to tell. We develop independent projects and also offer services on commission for the media, nonprofit organizations, artists and art institutions, universities and businesses. With roots in Guatemala and North Carolina, we cover stories all over Latin America, the US and beyond.

Featured Content: Food is Medicine 
Report Author: LaShauna Austria, Seeds of Change Consulting
Report Design: Iximché Media

Food is Medicine Report 2025 | PDF to Flipbook

A Scan of Partnerships between Community-Based Organizations and Healthcare Providers in North Carolina.

Featured Friend: Dyalekt

Hip‑Hop Pedagogy for Justice: Dyalekt’s Educational Artivism

New York’s own Dyalekt merges hip‑hop performance with literacy, identity work, and economic justice. From his early days interpreting Macbeth in rap form, to co-founding Pockets Change (a financial education program teaching personal finance via hip‑hop pedagogy) with his wife, Pam, Dyalekt empowers students through rhythm and storytelling.

His curriculum fosters intergenerational financial resilience, uplifts voices that have been and continue to be furthest from justice, and nurtures advocacy through art. Dyalekt’s work shows that artivism isn't just protest: it’s education, self-determination, and equity in action.

Seeds of Change Happenings

Insight Exchange Book Group: Interest Form

Join us this September for a thoughtful and energizing book group as we read Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown. Together, we’ll explore how to shape change and build connection in ways that are rooted in justice, adaptation, and community care.  

Book: Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown
Group: Insight Exchange Book Group
Location: Virtual (link will be shared)
Time: 12:00–1:00 PM ET


Peer Support -  Round 2 starting November!  Register Here

Local Happenings

Recommended Reading

Freedom Dreams: The Black Radical Imagination

First published in 2002, Freedom Dreams is a staple in the study of the Black radical tradition. Unearthing the thrilling history of grassroots movements and renegade intellectuals and artists, Kelley recovers the dreams of the future worlds Black radicals struggled to achieve.

African American Arts: Activism, Aesthetics, and Futurity

Signaling such recent activist and aesthetic concepts in the work of Kara Walker, Childish Gambino, BLM, Janelle Monáe, and Kendrick Lamar, and marking the exit of the Obama Administration and the opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, this anthology explores the role of African American arts in shaping the future, and further informing new directions we might take in honoring and protecting the success of African Americans in the U.S.

Folks to Follow

Cornelio Campos

Cornelio Campos is a self-taught Mexican American Artist based in Durham, NC. Mr. Campos immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico as a teenager, a journey and process that now influence many of his paintings. Vibrant colors, iconic American Symbols, and intricate geometric patterns define Mr. Campos’ works. Through his painting, he illustrates some of the harsh realities of immigrating to America that immigrants often overlook.

https://corneliocampos.com/shop/

Culture Mill

Our mission is to foster a creative ecosystem based in Saxapahaw, North Carolina, through the cross-pollination of artist residencies, educational outreach and groundbreaking immersive artworks from local, national and international artists.

NC Climate Justice Collective

We are shifting the cultural paradigm: turning our society away from destruction and toward equitable, Earth-honoring, inclusive community building. We build grassroots power, develop movement infrastructure, and align frontline struggles.

Paperhand Puppet Project

Paperhand Puppet Project is a puppetry arts non-profit based out of Saxapahaw, NC. We create unique, giant, papier-mache puppet extravaganzas complete with live music and so much more!

"In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist. We must be anti-racist."
Angela Davis

Seeds of Change Consulting

We are a diverse and passionate team of sector experts and rising stars, united by a shared commitment to social and economic justice. We are a community of professionals deeply dedicated to advancing racial equity, collective liberation, and transformative change.