Transformative Impact Framework for Community Change

By analyzing copious amounts of data gathered through formal surveys, in-depth interviews, workshop feedback, and short solicited statements from fifteen years of Center for Artistic Activism alumni, recurring themes emerged in how people described the impact of working with the Center on themselves, their organizations, and their work.

People who work in advocacy frequently fixate on what they want to change. This is important, but what is often neglected is an inspiring vision of the solution. The Center for Artistic Activism strengthens the capacity to not only critique what is wrong but to dream of what a better world might be. Alumni reported that their capacity to imagine was greatly strengthened at both a personal and organizational level, and that this imagination carried over into the tactics they used in the field.

These tactics included creating imaginary worlds, sometimes based on popular fantasies, to provide the communities they work with a glimpse of what a new world might look and feel like—inspiring them to build it in the present, making the impossible possible.

“One of the Center for Artistic Activism’s teachings is to tap into our individual and collective imagination and encourage expanding our minds with an open, What if? This has been the framework for pretty much every community-engaged art project I’ve led since that workshop.”

“I absolutely love the the Center for Artistic Activism idea of Utopia… imagining a world where you have already succeeded… changing people’s mindset, inspiring them, providing direction, and stimulating a different way of seeing and feeling.”

“It was insane when I was literally told the term ‘artistic activism’ the first time. I was like, ding dong. Like, what? Like, literally, why didn’t I think of this? It really helped define my character professionally as an activist.”

All activists, artists, and advocacy organizations get stuck in ruts. What worked before is tried repeatedly, even when it no longer works. Again and again, alumni reported that the Center for Artistic Activism helped them break out of these ruts by embracing risk and surprise and providing exercises designed to get them thinking “out of the box.”

As a result, they introduced creative innovation into their organizations and campaigns, pushing them in new directions. At both an organizational and professional level, people reported that the Center for Artistic Activism was able to move them to the “next level.”

“It provides a framework, a set of languages and tools to craft an intervention that could provoke thoughts. It provided a new lens to view activism. It encouraged me to create actions that go beyond just telling the truth.”

— Elsa So Leung Yan, Regional Action Manager, Greenpeace East Asia, Hong Kong

“We recognize that to create a guide for the rest of the department, they really need to understand the creative process. So I’m hosting Lunch and Learns with my colleagues, where they take past projects and apply the creative process to them… I’ve been seeing lots of light bulbs go off.”

— Roshani Thakore, Director, Community Engagement & Culture Program, Atlanta Regional Commission, USA

Social movement scholars have proved that people become engaged—and stay engaged—in advocacy work for emotional reasons: because they feel something is wrong and believe the world could be better. Yet, all too often, appeals for social change are made only to the mind, while the heart and soul are neglected.

By stressing the affective powers of the arts, alumni reported that the Center for Artistic Activism taught them how artistic approaches to activism stir, capture, articulate, and generate emotions that link people to issues, and then how to apply these powers to their campaigns in concrete ways. They also mentioned how the Center helped them discover the joy and excitement of creativity in the service of social change, and how this joy was incorporated into their own activist work and their engagement with the public.

“The Center for Artistic Activism showed me that creativity isn’t just about ‘going with the flow’—it’s about having a process. That idea applies not only to artistic activism but to all civic engagement.”

— Jeanine Abrams McLean, President of Fair Count, USA

“Realizing the potency of emotions when it comes to changing minds was a big game-changer for me and how I approach my work and the world. It’s not enough to prove a point, but in order to change yourself and the world, we gotta feel.”

— Helena Kore, Instructor, Grand Rapids Community College, USA

“A lot of advocacy here in Central Florida revolves around trauma. But we did something different. We created spaces for people to share experiences while engaging in collective art-making and joyful, open conversations. It brought healing and connection in ways that traditional approaches don’t.”

— Carlos “Carlitos” Xavier Díaz Rodríguez, Community Organizer, HIV Justice, QLatinx

While artistic activism expands imaginations, stimulates innovation, and embraces emotion, it needs thoughtful strategic planning to be socially impactful. Alumni frequently describe how the Center helped boost the effect of their affective projects by clarifying goals, specifying concrete objectives, identifying audiences, and considering their motivations.

By building and testing prototypes, critically reflecting upon their strategies, and redirecting their approaches when needed, they reported being better able to leverage creativity into campaigns that create real-world impact. The Center for Artistic Activism taught them to be rational about using the irrational.

“I was always struggling to make our activism creative, and that training helped a lot because it gave us a methodology. The most valuable aspect is that we always forget the part of engaging audiences in our actions, so that’s helped a lot in every plan of action we have made since then.”

— Migen Qiraxhi, Civil Society Advocate, Albania

A great deal of art and activism done in the name of social change is based upon magical thinking—an artwork is created, an action is staged, and—poof!—change happens. Usually, however, it does not.

The Center’s emphasis on the assessment of the impact of artistic activism, through training, mentoring, and the development of an “æffect assessment methodology,” has resulted in an increased awareness among alumni of the importance of assessment. By building assessment into the planning of projects from the start and stressing testing, reflection, and iteration throughout, alumni report that they now look at assessment more holistically.

By providing tools and resources, The Center for Artistic Activism gave them the means to conduct assessment themselves. People also reported a change in their attitudes—assessment is not just something performed to please funders, but a process done for the good of their projects.

“A fantastic step-by-step guide to planning artistic interventions that have impact — and to help you assess whether you have met your goals.”

— Brett Davidson, Former Director of the Media and Narratives Division of the Open Society Public Health Program, USA

“We prototyped the training, and while it went fairly well, we had low turnout. That’s when we decided to switch our methods and tactics to virtual game nights and partnerships with streamers. I really believe that shift happened because of the training I received from the Center and the guidance to reflect after prototyping and consider alternative approaches.”

— Sara Mortensen, Development Director, Fandom Forward, USA

It can be lonely trying to change the world. You are often at odds with those around you, and you lose more often than you win. Practicing unorthodox forms of arts and activism, like artistic activism, can further compound this alienation.

One of the themes that alumni kept returning to is how the Center for Artistic Activism connected them with like-minded individuals—whether in a room or around the world—through trainings, collaborative projects, research groups, book clubs, online seminars, webinars, and office hours.

Through the Center, they felt like they were part of a community where they truly belonged.

“I loved the Free the Vaccine campaign and how it creatively brought together activists (and those who might not have thought of themselves as ‘activists’) from all over the world, working in unity.”

— Marlise Richter, Sonke Gender Justice, South Africa

It is said that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, and one of the things that alumni reported frequently is how they used and adapted parts of Center for Artistic Activism trainings, tools, resources, and methodologies. Alumni reproduced and repurposed the Center’s materials for their own trainings, resources, and organizations.

However, what alumni did with the Center’s resources was much more than imitation—they adopted what worked for them and adapted it for their own needs and contexts. This process gave birth to new forms and definitions of artistic activism, as ideas and methods spread from one place to the next.

“The fact that planning an event or an action for Greenpeace is actually a creative design process is something that I took from the Center. I have taken that language and embedded it in our training manuals. For instance, we have a new section in the training about creativity. That is pretty much taken as it is in the training module of the Center.”

— Pushpinder Singh, Global Actions Capacity Development Manager, Greenpeace, Netherlands

“In Ghana, some of the guys within our cohort are going on and being amazingly bold. The impact beyond that, beyond the trainees, is really seen, and you can really, really feel it. Even myself, I’ve gone to apply this in various aspects of my life.”

— Prince Andrew Ardayfio, Creative Art Director, TransArt Global, Ghana

Combining art and activism can be powerful, but it can also be challenging, as art and activism serve different functions in the world. Art generates affect, creating emotional responses, while activism is aimed toward effect, producing direct impact.

Bringing together the affective power of the arts with the effective capabilities of activism—what we call “æffect”—was one of the most important insights alumni gained from working with the Center for Artistic Activism.

For some, this was completely new: artists learning how to be strategic about the impact of their creative work, or activists discovering how to incorporate culture and creativity into their campaigns. Even those who had been practicing artistic activism before working with the Center for Artistic Activism reported that the Center provided clarification, validation, and confidence to continue developing their practice.

“For a lot of [organizations], when they heard of activism, it was more about always hitting the streets and doing violent protests. I was able to walk them through a different approach to what activism truly is, and based on that, they bought into a lot of ideas that I proposed that work and that they could adapt.”

— Ewura Adams Karim, Co-Founder and Executive Director, Maltiti Foundation, Ghana

Learn more about the impact report and our nine global case studies. Here’s an example:

The Center’s training enabled Rohani’s team to move beyond “problem-solving” into a more reflective and audience-focused practice, fostering meaningful engagement.