Artivism: Adelphi Co-Hosts Year-Long Interdisciplinary Transformative Art Initiative

Garden City, NY (04/05/2021) — The killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, along with other similar tragedies and the protests they sparked, have prompted many to speak up against racism and police brutality through their work. Nearly a year on, as the world tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and the events of last summer, Adelphi University is co-hosting a year-long, interdisciplinary initiative to showcase the power of art to bring about social change.

"Artivism: The Power of Art for Social Transformation'' is a collaboration between Adelphi, Gottesman Libraries at Teachers College, Columbia University and Sing for Hope. This initiative is designed to engage people in changing society through the power of art while shining a light on how the arts can redress inequities, reflect diverse voices and push society forward.

"The term Artivism has been around since the 1990s and has been used in a variety of contexts," said Stephanie Lake, PhD, Director of Adelphi's Criminal Justice Program and an organizer of the series. "For the purpose of our initiative, Artivism combines art, broadly defined, and activism."

This initiative is the brainchild of Adelphi alumna Carolina Cambronero Varela and was inspired by a book she co-edited with two Adelphi faculty, Dolapo Adeniji-Neill, PhD, and Courtney Lee Weida, PhD, Illuminations of Social Imagination: Learning from Maxine Greene.

"The hope of Artivism is to ignite the passion in each of us to be change agents now, not tomorrow, with our current resources," Varela said. "Presenters propose thought-provoking angles that inspire new ways of thinking, of questioning, which then translate into action. The objective is action. Actions that will transform our moribund societal systemic disjunctives."

Dr. Lake said she was excited to work on the project as it dovetails into her own teaching philosophy that urges Adelphi students to learn to see the world with fresh eyes.

"As a criminologist, my work has focused on equality before the law," Dr. Lake said, "as well as structural barriers to opportunity and social cohesion, so I could see where the initiative's mission fits with what we try to do both in sociology and criminal justice at Adelphi."

Each week, one of the 14 spring student ambassadors from Adelphi's art, dance, music, sociology, criminal justice, communications, psychology and languages, literatures and cultures departments share their experience of working on creative projects with the featured "artivists." The projects range from art pieces sold at auctions to raise bail funds for Black Lives Matter protesters last summer, to dance internships with under-served communities, to poetry and spoken word performances by a psychology and criminal justice major to raise awareness about mental illness.

At each event, one of the 14 spring student ambassadors from Adelphi describe their projects before introducing that week's "artivist." Some of those participating in the year-long initiative are the co-founders of Sing for Hope and renowned sopranos Monica Yunus and Camille Zamora, bicoastal filmmaker Karlee Roberts, poly-Grammy winning pianist-composer-educator Arturo O'Farrill, contemporary photographer and Adelphi Professor Hannah Smith Allen, and award-winning Brooklyn-based transdisciplinary artist Laura Anderson Barbata.

The Artivist team comprises Dr. Lake, Cambronero Varela, Adelphi students and faculty members including Argie Moutafis-Agelarakis, adjunct professor of criminal justice; Ines Archer, PhD, adjunct professor of Spanish; Sarah Avery, administrative assistant in the department of sociology and criminal justice; Jenna Ventura '21, creator of the spring poster; Jennifer Govan, director of Gottesman Libraries at Teachers College; and Sing for Hope co-founders Monica Yunus and Camille Zamora.

Upcoming events include "The Power of Art: Creativity and Academics" on April 5, which will feature a presentation byMoutafis-Agelarakis, and 'Indigenous Poetry in Women's Voices' on April 8, presented by Adelphi faculty Dr. Ines Archer and featuring poetry in autochthonous Mesoamerican and South American languages, along with "Jazz as Global Citizenship" on April 12, and many others.

Learn more about Artivism and upcoming events at adelphi.edu/artivism or #artivism4sharedhumanity.

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