Art & Activism: Relevance in the Arts

Since 2017, BCALF Boulder County Arts Leadership Forum (BCALF) has presented panels on RELEVANCE IN THE ARTS FEATURING ARTS PROFESSIONALS FROM ACROSS THE FRONT RANGE. As a follow-up to those panels and in partnership with Street Wise Boulder, we are embarking on an exploration of the intersection of art and ACTIVISM WITH LOCAL ARTISTS AND ACTIVISTS. Each panelist will present their work, followed by a moderated discussion.   Register here [https://www.bouldercountyarts.org/civicrm/event/info?id=194&reset=1]. Panelists: * Evan Weissman * Lindee Zimmer * Anthony Garcia Sr. * Gary Roland Moderated by Leah Brenner Clack of Street Wise Boulder. Evan Weissman is the founding executive director of Warm Cookies of the Revolution, a Civic Health Club that blends innovative arts and culture with crucial civic issues. Prior to founding Warm Cookies of the Revolution, he spent 12 years as a company member of the collaborative Buntport Theater Company. Warm Cookies of the Revolution have created over 150 unique arts-based civic programs, including the nationally recognized two-year Participatory Budgeting art project called “THIS MACHINE HAS A SOUL”. Evan was recently named a 2019 Roddenberry Fellow as well as a 2019 Livingston Fellow from Bonfils-Stanton Foundation. He was awarded the 2019 COLORADO Governor’s Award for Creative Leadership and the 2018 Parr Widener Civic Leadership Award from the Denver Foundation. Evan was named as one of 15 Disrupters Changing Denver by 5280 magazine. Lindee Zimmer Follow textures, lines and scattered stripes, and dive into the imagination; Lindee’s art stems from the colors of tropical birds, the cracks in the walls she draws her murals, energy of the universe that connects us. Lindee was born in Boulder, COLORADO and currently lives in Denver. She is the founder and director of the Fort Collins Mural Project. She has been a public artist for over 7 years. Anthony Garcia Sr. was born and raised in Denver in the Globeville community. Starting off as a graffiti writer, his knowledge of the Denver art scene and his go-getter attitude molded him into a force to be reckoned with early on. He is currently programming with at-risk youth and trying to bring more fine art to the streets of Denver. He is also the co-founder of Birdseed Collective (a DIY group of artists working together to create a more accessible platform for up and coming talents to express themselves). His artistic training was molded by Denver “Art Street” program and the Center for Visual Arts. Gary Roland is an artivist, poet, and investigative journalist. In 2011 Gary first emerged as a respected organizer, facilitator, and direct action strategist during Occupy Wall Street. A self-styled dharma bum, Gary was part of the tactical committee that successfully occupied Zuccotti Park, before hitting the road and helping Occupy spread across the country. Gary arrived in Boulder to pursue the Allen Ginsberg Fellowship at the Jack Kerouac School of DisEmbodied Poets. In 2015, Gary co-founded the allied community art studio Flatirons Political Art to provide arts organizing for many local activist movements including Stop the Frack Attack Conference, Amendment A campaign and Boulder Valley Indigenous Peoples Day Pow Wow and Parade. Leah Brenner Clack is the founding director and chief curator of Street Wise Boulder. Prior to launching Street Wise in 2019, Leah founded And Art Space, a Boulder mural project in 2015 and neighborhood arts advocacy group, Arts Martin Acres in 2016. Leah is the former curator and gallery director for Colorado contemporary art galleries- Knew Conscious, madelife and The Chambers Project. Leah currently is focused on amplifying public art and advocating for the arts in Boulder. Check out the Facebook event [https://www.facebook.com/events/543465886505152/?active_tab=about] too! This event was submitted by Boulder County Arts Alliance. HTTPS://WWW.BOULDERCOUNTYARTS.ORG/CALENDAR// [https://www.bouldercountyarts.org/calendar/]