In 2023, the recipients of the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award were given an opportunity to dream up a creative project that would enable them to elevate their work, share their communities’ messages and stories, and connect more deeply with their audiences. Recipients partner with the creative talent to explore innovative ways to communicate their impact and increase the visibility of their work in an often-crowded media landscape.
As artist and activist James Baldwin once said, “Art is a vehicle for social change, a way of challenging the status quo.” These projects illustrate how art can be a catalyst for shifting mindsets and driving systemic change, offering new perspectives on critical issues and inspiring scale and replication of the recipient’s work.
Content Advisory: This video contains mention of abandonment, isolation, and foster care system involvement. Video description: The documentary shows scenery from Humboldt county including redwood forests and a reconstructed Yurok village. The video shows a young woman, Wakara, leading cultural workshops and in community with friends and family.
Blair Kreuzer & Delia Sharpe
California Tribal Families Coalition (CTFC)
Blair Kreuzer and CTFC decided to produce a short documentary highlighting the Indian Child Welfare Act’s (ICWA) positive impact on tribal families’ well-being. Navajo filmmaker Christopher Nataanii Cegielski directed the film, which features Wakara Scott. Scott descends from a rich tapestry of tribal heritages, including Yurok, Karuk, Siletz, Tolowa, and Tohono O’odham. The film showcases ICWA’s role in supporting tribal family resilience, aiming to raise awareness and reinforce advocacy efforts for ICWA. CTFC plans to use the short film as an educational tool during workshops, and other engagements with policymakers, county workers, and tribal leaders.
Video description: The documentary shows a billboard truck driving through a city with graphic art messages about minimum wage and the cost of living. Restaurant employees are shown working, and people gather in the streets with signs to advocate for fair wages.
Saru Jayaraman
One Fair Wage
Saru Jayaraman and One Fair Wage worked with the Awards team to produce a digital app for visualizing and comparing living wages across communities, alongside an animated slideshow displayed on LED trucks. The display was unveiled in the fall of 2023 at an event in Los Angeles, CA with the California Living Wage for All Coalition. The accompanying digital billboard created an engaging, educational tool through which the organization can activate participants in events. Specifically, the tool will collect user data and create opportunities to educate Californians on the disparity between current wages and living wages in their geographic area.
Content Advisory: This video contains mention of suicide, dismemberment, and workplace injuries. Video description: The documentary shows art projected onto buildings at night in Sacramento. The art depicts the experiences and testimonies of people forced to work in prisons.
Dorsey Nunn
Legal Services for Prisoners with Children / All of Us or None
A guerrilla projection art project, called “A Voice from State Prison,” aims to help Dorsey Nunn and Legal Services for Prisoners with Children advocate for dignity and freedom for people affected by incarceration. The initial concept aimed to raise awareness about the exploitative labor practices in prisons by displaying the art and personal stories of incarcerated individuals on billboards. However, billboard operators canceled the campaign despite initially accepting it. In response, the team pivoted to projecting the prisoners’ artwork and letters onto significant buildings in Sacramento, including the state capitol, the county jail, and the headquarters of the billboard operators. This protest amplified the voices of incarcerated workers, who, despite contributing billions to the economy, are forced to work for free, highlighting the urgent need for justice and reform.