Protest Art - not just for others, but for ourselves!

Have you ever just wanted to SCREAM? To holler? To rant against something that just isn’t fair? You are not alone.

When an artist creates a piece that says: “No! This is not right!” That is Protest Art.

Protest Art ________________ (fill in the blank).

• gives us a voice

• helps us understand

• allows us to process our feelings

• brings people together

• all of the above

Across history, particularly since the 19th century, art has been used as a mechanism by which to call attention to injustice AND as a tool for social change.

Picasso’s enormous mural sized painting — Guernica — is one of the most famous and moving examples of Protest Art.

Want to learn more about art as activism? Check out this lesson by Museo de Picasso in Barcelona.

It’s incredible what Protest Art does to inspire change in others, in institutions and in governments.

Surprisingly — we often overlook its value to the individual.

We may not be able to change the world today or win every battle, but, thankfully, we always have art available to us.

Art is a tool we can use to process and understand our own feelings.

We must let our feelings out so that they do not sit within us and fester — in turn, weakening our resolve.

The next time you and your children come across something that just isn’t “right” — I encourage you to consider creating Protest Art for yourselves.

Put pen to paper …

Paint to canvas …

Hands to clay …

Or whatever your preferred artistic method is and say it all through art.

Then, if an opportunity arises to share your work with others and bring light to an issue you care about — GREAT!

Activism matters and is at the heart of our democracy.

In the wise words of Mahatma Gandhi:

“It's the action, not the fruit of the action, that's important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there will be any fruit. But that doesn't mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result.”