Transforming Local Communities Through Artistic Leadership

(Illustration by iStock/mustafahacalaki)

Addressing entrenched social problems in local communities like inequality, violence, or environmental degradation is as much about changing local cultures and mindsets as it is about reworking the socioeconomic structures around them. Cultural norms and values, such as gender roles and attitudes toward nature, guide economic and social interactions in communities. Challenging or redirecting established values is therefore at the heart of structural change.

Some of the most powerful tools for challenging established norms and for raising awareness about social problems are cultural artifacts like art, music, and film. However, artists and artistic projects have the power to do much more. Indeed, they can play a vital role in community change. Given the right support and strategy, artist-led efforts can empower communities to craft desirable futures, make social issues visible beyond the community, and promote long-term investments in local transformations.

But where exactly does the power of art for social change lie, and how can artists, communities, and funders effectively promote art-based change projects? Here’s a look at three artist-led projects that have made a significant impact in local communities through a combination of visual art and documentary films, as well as five strategies for funders to best support these types of projects.

Empowering Communities to Craft Desirable Futures

Artistic projects have a unique capacity to empower communities to envision a world different from their present reality. Indeed, the creative process can be particularly useful in contexts of poverty and hardship, where it can be difficult for people to think beyond their immediate opportunities and constraints, and imagine alternative futures.

The Gypsy Magna, a digital C print by artist Vik Muniz. The artwork appears in the documentary Waste Land and was created in partnership with catadores, or “collectors” of recyclable materials at a landfill near Rio de Janeiro. (Image courtesy of Vik Muniz Studios)

The 2010 documentary Waste Land offers a good example. The film portrays a collaboration between Brazilian artist Vik Muniz and a group of catadores, or “collectors,” who gather recyclable materials in Jardim Gramacho, a large landfill near Rio de Janeiro. Muniz works with the catadores to create artworks from materials they have collected, including variations on a Renaissance Madonna, Jean-François Millet's painting The Sower, and Jacques-Louis David’s painting The Death of Marat. The process takes the catadores on a transformative journey that helps them see themselves differently. They develop a newfound sense of pride and value in their work, and a new outlook on their roles as recyclers contributing to environmental sustainability. They also develop new artistic skills.

The documentary ends with an auction, where one portrait sells for more than $64,000. Muniz returns all sales revenues to Jardim Gramacho, supporting catadores to improve their working conditions. Muniz and the filmmakers also donate $276,000 to the workers’ cooperative Association of Collectors of the Metropolitan Landfill of Jardim Gramacho, money that has since been used to purchase computers, install a library, and finance a small-business training program. In 2010, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and received more than 50 film awards, including the Best Documentary Award. It was also a nominee for the Best Documentary Feature category at the 83rd Academy Awards. Although public interest in the project peaked with the film’s release, and notwithstanding the closure of Jardim Gramacho in 2012, the documentary imparts valuable insights into labor conditions in landfill environments and more generally retains the power to mobilize people to take proactive stances on societal issues.

Making Issues Visible Beyond the Community

Artists and filmmakers can also make local issues visible and relatable to a wider audience through their work, not only inspiring other communities suffering from similar conditions, but also generating new resources and support for local change. Our analysis of film-based impact campaigns shows a strong link between reaching global audiences and effective community change, in part because broad exposure mobilizes support and puts pressure on local stakeholders to promote change.

For example, The Interrupters is a 2011 film that tells the story of three ex-gang members who mediate, or “interrupt,” gang conflicts and prevent shootings in Chicago. The film was included in 44 film festivals in 15 different countries and ultimately seen by 3 million people worldwide.

Ameena Matthews is the daughter of a former Chicago gang leader and one of three change-maker protagonists in the anti-violence documentary The Interrupters. (Image courtesy of Kartemquin Films)

The Interrupters focuses on Chicago’s CeaseFire program, an effort that aimed to mobilize communities to reduce gang violence in the city. On release, the producers launched a $154,000 outreach campaign in Chicago and nationwide, organizing screenings and conversations in 44 US states about the roots of violence and improving social services. More than 16,000 people saw the film at around 400 moderated community screenings, 300 of which were held outside Chicago. One of the film’s protagonists, Eddie Bocanegra, also organized a special screening around an exhibition dealing with community violence at Chicago's National Museum of Mexican Art. The event shared art and stories by local youth, featured a discussion on the role of art in processing post-traumatic stress, and promoted art mentorships as a pathway to college.

The film and related campaign ultimately inspired the Mayor of Chicago to allocate $1 million for CeaseFire to support more “interrupters,” and while the longer-term effects have been somewhat mixed, the project likely contributed to a 40 percent reduction in local shootings and homicides in 2013. Importantly, the Interrupters film campaign also inspired other US cities to launch programs similar to CeaseFire.

Promoting Long-Term Investments in Local Transformations

Artist-led projects have the potential to create long-lasting impact, because the cultural artifacts they produce—films, paintings, sculptures—remain long after the projects launch. These artifacts can inspire people and generate awareness about social issues through multiple generations. In doing so, they support long-term shifts in values that can lead to new sources of income and careers in the local community.

In 2012, local artists in the Rwenzori Mountains, Uganda—the “Rwenzori Founders”—began crafting, exhibiting, and selling sculptures of extinct and endangered species in the region, both to raise awareness about the consequences of deforestation and to finance local replanting and rewilding initiatives. Over time, many artists have joined the effort, with great results. Since the project began, well over 20,000 trees have been planted in the area, and wildlife diversity has increased. Today, 203 bird species populate the area compared to 50 bird species in 2007. At the same time, the project has created new jobs for locals such as bronze cast workers, tree planters, security guards, cooks, and gardeners.

Issac Okwir, one of the Rwenzori Founders, makes an animal sculpture to celebrate the beauty of wildlife diversity in Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains. (Photo by Zuleika Kingdon, director of The Rwenzori Rainmakers and cofounder of Films for Change)

In an interview, Rwenzori Founder Isaac Okwir describes a virtuous cycle: “The artists come in, they observe and make artworks inspired by the culture and wildlife, which are sold in the local gallery, and the profits return to the community or back into the rewilding project. And as a result, the biodiversity increases, more endangered species come back, and this becomes a source of inspiration for more artists.”

The project has led to a culture shift in the community. In the past, locals perceived wildlife mainly as hunting game, now they see them as a source of identity and worthy of protection. To support this transformation, the Rwenzori Founders organize regular school visits to the gallery. Okwir explains, “If we want the project to be sustainable, we need the younger generation to carry on our dreams.”

In 2021, the project caught the attention of UK filmmakers Zuleika Kingdon and Jacqui Doughty, and inspired them to make The Rwenzori Rainmakers, a documentary about the project. The filmmakers’ Kickstarter campaign raised more than 25,000 British pounds (about $32,000 US dollars), which funded tree saplings for the reforestation effort and employed Ugandan talent as film crew. The filmmakers have run creative workshops and helped launch collaborations between regional and global wildlife organizations, which will generate more funding opportunities.

Supporting Artist-Led Change

Support for artist-led change projects isn’t just about funding the art itself. To be effective, support can and must take many forms. When possible, it should include the following five elements.

1. Funding for a campaign manager. Funders can boost the impact of artist-led projects by helping artists team up with campaign managers who organize special screenings and events; design social media campaigns; and craft educational materials to promote awareness-building, behavioral changes, and policy changes in local communities. For example, the producer of The Interrupters, Kartemquin, teamed up with outreach professionals to organize local screenings, in partnership with communities and city officials. The Impact Field Guide by Doc Society provides rich insights into running impact campaigns and the role campaign managers, or “impact producers,” can play. Campaigns aiming for policy change and regulation and community transformation seem to particularly benefit from them. But they require special funding, especially if professional impact producers get involved.

2. Contacts and collaborative opportunities. As with other social change efforts, funders and foundations can help artists and filmmakers build alliances with governments, NGOs, and community organizations. In the context of Waste Land, the portrait of Tião, one of the catadores involved in the project, was sold at Phillips de Pury, an auction house in London, and a retrospective exhibition featuring the artistic works of Vik Muniz was inaugurated at the Museu de Arte Moderna in Rio. Both the auction sale and the retrospective exhibition provided an opportunity for greater visibility and engagement with wider audiences, enabling the dissemination of the project's core message and impact. Funders can also raise the visibility of artist-led projects among other funders that support social or environmental causes.

3. Support for public events and exhibitions. Funders can also help expand the impact of artistic projects by making public spaces available for events, exhibitions, or screenings. For example, the Public Art Fund supported artist Ai Weiwei’s large-scale Good Fences Make Good Neighbors project in New York City, which addressed the global refugee crisis. The citywide exhibition, which ran from 2017 to 2018, encompassed more than 300 site-specific works, displayed in a wide range of locations, including the Lower East Side in Manhattan and Corona Park in Queens. This use of public spaces fostered dialogue about the fundamental concepts of borders, migration, and belonging. Funders can also support community workshops that use artwork and films to inspire collective change processes. Doing workshops properly may require professional facilitators and counselors who can help participants as they engage with traumatic issues such as gang violence.

4. Educational resources. Supporting art-based educational programs can enhance the impact of art and artistic projects both short- and long-term. For example, in 2012 the MacArthur Foundation and the Burberry Foundation made $2.2 million available to help youth in Chicago develop new skills and confidence, in part through learning opportunities at libraries, museums, schools, and arts venues. Partner organizations of The Interrupters campaign, such as Yollocalli Arts Reach, used this funding to develop art-centered educational programs that empower youth in the community and help them deal with violence and trauma. Funders can also support the development of learning materials around documentaries, which teachers frequently use to introduce students to complex social and environmental issues in the classroom.

5. Artist mentorship. Funders can share expertise in areas such as project management, marketing, and strategic planning to help artists develop the skills they need to lead successful projects. For example, the International Centre of Art for Social Change, an initiative focused on supporting community-engaged art and art for social change, conducts research, provides professional development opportunities, and facilitates knowledge-sharing and networking within the field. The center offers workshops, conferences, and lectures to enhance professional skills and promote the exchange of ideas among artists.

The Interrupters, Waste Land, and the Rwenzori Founders illustrate how artist-led change projects can get communities emotionally invested in their own transformation and in creating real, structural change. For funders, supporting artist-led projects can take many forms, including dedicated funding for a campaign manager, access to potential partners and public space, and providing educational and mentorship opportunities. By coming together, artists, community members, and funders can find creative pathways to making social and environmental issues more visible, and inspiring and empowering communities to take an active part in the process of change.

Read more stories by Stephan Manning & Yeşim Uygur.