The Intercultural Community Center (ICC) hosted “The Art of Organizing: Painting Pathways to Justice” Oct. 23. The two-part event began with mural painting in the ICC backyard, led by muralist Tyra Sparks, followed by a panel discussion with several professionals with a background in organizing in Choi Auditorium.
Sparks brought in a large canvas with the piece outlined and hung it up on the fence in the ICC backyard. Students then painted it in sections, corresponding to a pre-assigned color. Sparks said this is the art of organizing: devising ways to speak to a community and to invite them to participate in a common goal.
“There’s always an art in trying to figure out how to get people together. It’s kind of like putting together a puzzle piece,” Sparks said. “The mediums, the people that are a part of it — everyone has a role […] everybody is a part of the project with intention.”
Sparks said that in her experience, organizing is both an art in and of itself and an activity that relies on art.
“Art’s everywhere. You need art for the flyers. You need the music,” Sparks said. “We can really drive home those tiny little subtleties of what we’re trying to say […] really let them know we’re here with actual intention. We’re here with the pride of who we are.”
A student organizer at the event Lizzie Barr (sophomore) said she too sees organizing as intertwined with art.
“Organizing involves so much art because organizing is all about having conversations,” Barr said. “And [art] can communicate. It can make someone feel something that words can’t.”
According to Barr, the presence of the mural in the ICC is especially meaningful.
“It’s nice to have a visual reminder of something that we’re fighting towards,” Barr said. “And the words that are there, ‘We will not be silenced’ — you can say them to someone, but they’re emphasized by the art itself, especially in the ICC where so much student organizing happens.”
The second part of the event involved a panel discussion about community organizing in Choi Auditorium. Invited were Street Poets Inc Director of Program Integration Alyesha Wise-Hernandez, City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado’s Deputy District Director Dominique Sanchez, LAANE Interim Campaigns Director Ashley Gonzales-Vielman and UCLA LGBTQ Campus Resource Center Director Vanessa González-Siegel. The panelists offered students their perspectives on organizing, as well as advice on how to get involved.
“Your voice is the strongest when it’s rooted in something personal,” Sanchez said. “So sit with your frustrations, sit with your curiosity, sit with like-minded people, because I think that’s where your purpose is gonna live and that’s where you’re going to find it.”
Gonzales-Vielman said that the work community organizers do is incredibly important. According to her, it is easy to get caught up in the fights that need to happen, but to also feel hopeless when confronted with the magnitude of these issues. Gonzales-Vielman’s said it is best to commit to existing organizations that address the issues one cares about, rather than brood and attempt an isolated fight.
“Don’t allow yourself to sit in it and be lonely in it,” said Gonzales-Vielman. “Find the people [and] speed date organizations […] You need to show up when it’s hard, when you have homework, when the moment calls for you.”
The discussion eventually turned to the topic of burnout. According to González-Siegel, who drew on experience from working with pro-Palestine Colombia student activists, knowing when to take a step back is key to successful organizing.
“I can’t do everything by myself,” González-Siegel said. “If I feel like I have to do everything by myself, if I feel like I have to be the one that writes the agenda and takes the notes and shares it back and engages on Instagram, I’m going to fail. I think we have to put movements over ourselves and maybe sometimes even our own egos.”
According to Sanchez, taking breaks is not a weakness and preventing burnout is necessary for organizing.
“Rest is resistance, right?” Sanchez said. “Capitalism will have you grinding as long as you’re willing to do it.”
Wise-Hernandez said art is what keeps movements alive.
“Art is what makes the world go round,” Wise-Hernandez said. “When we […] come together via the arts, that’s the world we are looking for, the quote unquote ‘heaven’ we’re looking for.”
Contact Naisha John at njohn@oxy.edu
