During this episode of Why Change? co-hosts Madeleine and Jeff discuss their work related to advocacy for teaching artists and systems change. Madeleine shares her interview with Gowri Savoor, a teaching artist focused on empathy and relationship building through community arts projects, especially for climate change. The discussion connects narrative building to arts-research to advocacy strategies and how we learn them!
In this episode you’ll learn:
How the arts can cultivate empathy in relationships between people, places, and the planet;
The ways we can use our multihyphenate identities to strengthen our projects and their impact; and
About our professional responsibility as practitioners to advocate for ourselves, our field, and changes to the systems which impact our work.
Check out some of the things mentioned during this podcast, including:
Embedding Advocacy into Your Practice by Jeff M. Poulin (Teaching Artists Guild)
Making Change: Teaching Artists and Their Role in Shaping a Better World by Eric Booth
ABOUT GOWRI SAVOOR:
Gowri Savoor is a visual-teaching artist whose practice includes sculpture, illustration, and writing. Born in England, she moved to the US in 2007. Savoor has been a teaching artist for over 20 years and has partnered with multiple organizations in the UK and across the US, including Community Engagement Lab (VT), Lincoln Center Education (NY), The Learning Alliance (FL), and ITAC—the International Teaching Artist Collaborative. Savoor is the instigator of A River of Light, a movement committed to bringing art to the community through participatory art events, installations, and lantern parades. She is also the co-founder of Teaching Artists Connect, an organization providing creative and inspiring professional development workshops for teaching artists and educators in North Carolina and beyond. When she isn’t making, teaching, or dreaming about art, she can be found walking through the woods with a little red dog.
This episode was produced by Madeleine McGirk; the executive producer is Jeff M. Poulin. The artwork is by Bridget Woodbury. The audio is edited by Katie Rainey. This podcasts’ theme music is by Distant Cousins. For more information on this episode and Creative Generation please visit the episode’s webpage and follow us on social media @Campaign4GenC
