Impact on the ecosystem of social change artists in the Philadelphia area

IMPACT ON THE ECOSYSTEM OF SOCIAL CHANGE ARTISTS IN THE PHILADELPHIA AREA Stronger ecosystem of social change artists

We asked interviewees if they thought that the ecosystem of social change artists in the Philadelphia area was stronger and more sustainable because of Leeway’s work. While they acknowledged that there are many variables at play that influence this ecosystem, almost everyone affirmed that the ecosystem is stronger and more sustainable.

“I’d say that the conversation here [in Philadelphia] is more inflected with an acknowledgment of social justice values than other cities where other people practice art on social issues and social interaction, but it isn’t necessarily about justice. Leeway’s process really asserts and makes space for that orientation, which has a ripple effect on the way that other organizations and individuals talk about what they do and why they do it.” (local partner)

Celebrating 25 years of Leeway

We asked artists, cultural producers and local partners to reflect on Leeway’s 25th anniversary celebrations held during the fall of 2018, including their exhibition of Leeway’s artists at Moore College of Art & Design in Philadelphia. The celebrations aimed to tell Leeway’s story of an organization grounded in the founder’s feminist principles, one that explores the intersection of art, culture, community and change, and one that has been through tumultuous transitions — initially funding womenidentified artists, then expanding its criteria to embrace women, trans, and gendernonconforming artists with a vision for social change, and confirming a focus on racial justice, all toward a mature point in its life cycle.

The 25th anniversary exhibition highlighted the kind of work Leeway exists to support: the intersection of art, culture, community and change, as well as the artists, cultural producers, activists, scholars and organizations who have carried the organization along the way. Everyone we talked to who went to the 25th anniversary exhibition loved it. They thought it was an incredible expression of Leeway’s commitment to women and trans artists and artists of color; that it showed the breadth and depth of the work of those artists, their commitment to social change and the communities in which they’re embedded; that it was beautiful and moving; and that it embodied the community that Leeway has created over 25 years.

“Most of us work in isolation. Leeway is onto something. It’s a model that is worth looking at for replication. I feel that it has not even begun to reach its potential. A really powerful example of what Leeway can do is the 25th anniversary celebrations, because then you got to see the length and breadth of impact and storytelling, and it brought together people who were not relating to each other.” (grantee)

“Can you imagine what it’s like if Leeway didn’t exist for 25 years?! ... The amount of resources that filtered into the lives of the artists, the people who are getting paid to work with the artists. It’s such a cultural economy that is filtered through 25 years of grants.” (grantee and panelist)

Ripple effects

As part of the impact assessment process, Leeway wanted to know what impact the grants were having on the communities that the artists and cultural producers are part of and work with. One of the purposes of Leeway’s grantmaking programs is to “use the foundation’s resources to invest in artists who are committed to using their artistic practice to illuminate pressing social issues affecting their communities.” 22 Leeway wanted to know how grantee artists and cultural producers are doing that.

As we noted above, being a Leeway grantee changes the way artists and cultural producers think about art and social change and their own artistic and cultural practice. In the interviews and the ripple effect exercise (described on p. 37) at the December 2018 community meeting, artists and cultural producers identified themselves as the person most changed by the grant. Community-level change was secondary to this — not necessarily less important, but not the location for change the artist or cultural producer was most concerned with. When asked about the impact of their work on the community, the artists and cultural producers described a process whereby change flowed through them to other community members. In their work, they explore who they are and who their community is. Since they are part of their community, if they change, then the community changes too.

We liken this process of change to a small pebble thrown into a lake, causing gentle ripples outwards in circles away from the center. Using this metaphor, we can see four circles of change spreading outwards:

1.

At the center of the circles is the artist or cultural producer and the change they personally experience, both through the Leeway application process and through the artmaking or cultural production process.

“The ways that I think about art and social change are shifted. Social change is now an aesthetic principle that my work cannot do without. I understand and work more deeply to be socially engaged and to be socially active in my work and life — like, the work I do is more than an individual practice/process. It is a collective discipline. I work to make connections with people, place, meaning, and these help bring greater depth to my life.” (grantee)

2. The second circle out is their community, however they describe it. The community changes because first, the artist changes and they are part of their community, and second, community members experience the art (that is, the play, film, exhibition, performance, etc.) and are changed by that. 23

“The community aspect came more from me; I’m going to do it for free in my neighborhood and make it for my queer and trans friends who don’t often go to the theater or see their lives represented in the theater.” (grantee and panelist)

3.

The third circle out is the grantee’s community of artists that they pay for their work, and that they support to get grants from Leeway, other paid gigs and more professional exposure.

“My relationship with Leeway created a ripple effect in my community. Other Black queer poets in my immediate circle applied for and won Leeway grants. … Because I have been able to devote more time to poetry, I have been able to have more of an impact in the poetry community, vouching for Black folks, queer folks and women to get them performance gigs, teaching opportunities, editing positions, etc.” (grantee)

4. The fourth circle is the social change that happens when the artist or cultural producer uses art and culture to amplify the effect of an existing social change campaign.

“Leeway funded a trans filmmaker to create a documentary about the campaign to eliminate gender markers on SEPTA 24 passes. As an organizer on that campaign, the film was an important tool and documentation of that work. … [I was] able to go back to this campaign as a case study and teaching tool for other organizers, having real footage and documentation that helps me tell that story and uplift trans-led grassroots organizing.” (panel facilitator)

The ripples flow outwards from the center. They are not huge waves of traditionally defined social, political or economic change like changes to policy or legislation, but gentle changes at the personal and community level.

Many artists and cultural producers, both Art and Change Grant and Transformation Award recipients, talked about how they used their grant to pay other artists, and were very clear that this was a positive impact of the grant. Often these are artists who are people of color, queer, trans or disabled, making them more likely to experience economic marginalization. Leeway artists and cultural producers appear to be redistributing the wealth that Leeway gives them.

“I’ve shared a lot of money with my collaborators and folks I work with, as well as not charging for creative services that usually cost money (like making websites, headshots, graphic design) for people that I want to support but otherwise might not have the capacity to do free work for.” (grantee)

“I always collaborated with artists but wasn’t able to do more than a local collaboration,

but now I’m able to take Philly artists overseas with me and have them be able to get more shows.” (grantee)

In general, Art and Change grantees did not discuss their change partners much or at all in the interviews. They did not suggest that these relationships were in any way negative; it appears more likely that they don’t think of the change partner as an active partner in delivering political, social or economic change. One interviewee, not a grantee, challenged the idea that the artist should pick the change partner, saying that it would be more revolutionary if the change partner working on the change chose the artist, so that the cultural producer/artist is serving the social movement moment that is happening now.

We spoke to two artists and cultural producers who used art and culture to amplify the effect of an existing social change campaign. In this situation, they noted that the art project was done in a partnership in which the partner was present and active, that the artwork was located in the impacted community, and that being part of the project had an effect on the thoughts and feelings of the community members. They did not claim that their work led to changes in policy or legislation.

“What I always say is that families and the community members that are directly impacted by these issues have a voice. We are not giving them a voice; they have a voice already. So how am I utilizing public art, how am I utilizing creative practices for that voice to be amplified, for them to have that platform, for them to have the megaphone and say, ‘This is what’s happening to me, and most importantly, this is the change that I want to see.’” (grantee)