As we inch closer to Election Day 2020 in the United States and the COVID-19 pandemic makes voting in person a risky endeavor, today’s visual artists are galvanizing people across the country to cast their ballots. During the last presidential election, in 2016, nearly half of the voting-age population in the US didn’t vote. This […]

By IAM Lab Contributor Hannah L. Drake Editor’s Note: Hannah L. Drake is a writer, spoken word artist-activist and cultural strategist at Ideas xLab in Louisville, Kentucky. Her work focuses on the intersection of arts, culture and health with an emphasis on the impact of race and injustice in underserved communities. In 2017, the National […]

By IAM Lab Guest Contributor David Olawuyi Fakunle, Ph.D. Every story has essential elements: plot, characters, settings, themes and the overall message. A lot of times, what makes a story effective isn’t any of these things but rather the moment in which the story is told. The story of George Floyd’s murder was no different […]

Art has always been a reflection of and response to the world around us. It’s also a way of envisioning what is possible and what is just. We have seen art-making on the front lines of the current uprising, with people around the world using art to call out racism, end police brutality and fight […]

The arts are a powerful way of responding to and addressing inequity and injustice.  As part of IAM Lab’s series exploring Arts for Health Equity and Social Justice, we are sharing art here —songs, signs, dancing, murals, poetry and more—and urging readers to join us in spending time with it, learning from it and taking […]