Panel: Art & Advocacy

The Art and Advocacy panel will explore the capacity of photography to impact social change. Seen from the viewpoint of actively engaged artists, photographers, and writers each panelist will discuss their specific advocacy-related art projects. Topics/Issues include work affecting cultural and ethnic awareness and justice, mental health and addiction, and environmental advocacy. We will reflect on how individual creative practice informs issues of concern and what mechanisms can facilitate change.

Panelists:
Tamara Staples - Multi-media artist based in Brooklyn. Her current project, Side Effects, highlights prescription drug misuse which was inspired by her sisters overdose/suicide with legally prescribed medications

Miska Draskoczy - Photographer and environmental activist. His book and collaborative project, Gowanus Wild, highlights the advocacy on this urban canal slowly being reclaimed from industrial ruin.

Niama Safia Sandy - Independent Curator and Cultural Anthropologist. Her Co-Curator of Refraction: New Photography of Africa and it’s Diaspora, at the Steven Kasher Gallery. And the recent inaugural Southeast Queens Biennial.

Siddharta Mitter - Freelance Arts Writer and Critic.Teaches at SVA, and is a Village Voice contributing writer. Keen interest of the intersection of art and it’s impact on social justice. Or in his words, “ Art, politics and the social fabric."

Moderated by Sybylla Smith, Guest Editor for the first Women’s Issue of Zeke, the Social Documentary Network publication.