Art Works

Ken Grossinger is a social and economic justice activist and Director of the Impact Philanthropy and Donor Advising division of Democracy Partners. For thirty-five years he has been working with unions, philanthropic and community organizations, encouraging collaboration as a means of social change. In Art Works, he discusses the ways that the arts have in the past affected social movements, lists dozens of contemporary social-cultural projects and posits that strategic collaboration between culture, social movements and philanthropy has great potential to boost the impact of social justice projects and to involve people from a variety of groups.

Grossinger starts with one of America’s most visible cultural-social examples, the involvement of musicians and community groups in the civil rights movement., arising from singing traditions in the Black church and moving through the popular folk-style music of Pete Seeger, Peter Paul & Mary and Joan Baez, to the public murals and social media activism of Black Lives Matter. Subsequent chapters detail cultural activism on behalf of the environment and immigration.

While reading these chapters, I was struck by the lack of arts organizations included. Most of the examples were of individual artists and musicians collaborating with commercial businesses and social nonprofits. I learned why when I reached chapter 5. This and the following chapter examine the role of traditional museums and philanthropic foundations in social movements, and makes a strong case for disrupting long held notions about how they operate. Museums are, for example, hampered by their need to schedule months and years in advance (making responding to current conditions difficult), their need to cater to the desires of donors and board members, and their need to maintain buildings and collections. Museums have also tended to emphasize events rather than long-term relationships, and have worked from the top down rather than bottom up. Grossinger lists several museums who have created advisory boards, reimagined public spaces, created long-term community relationships, and looked internally to issues from wage structures to challenging donor insistence on particular points of view. One of the examples of the latter include the prevalence of “art-washing,” in which donors attempt to use art as a way to improve public relations.

The only thing that bothered me with this book is the relative lack of examples of nonprofit music and theater organizations (film and commercial music are well represented), as are examples of local communities doing good work. The latter is understandable given the territory that would need to be explored, but it’s still worth noting that sometimes local organizations are more nimble than larger ones and can respond to current issues with fewer financial resources. I can think of several examples in my own hometown, including a mural of local community leaders of color, a public art exhibit about honeybees, and an exhibit of community-made Dio de Los Muertos altars, all of which helped steer the local conversation on issues of importance.

Grossinger conducted over one hundred interviews, and the book includes extensive notes, color plates, and indexing, all of which make it appropriate as a university-level textbook, but is written in a style that is accessible to community leaders from all sectors. I highly recommend it.

Many thanks to the New Press and NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.