Welcome back to The NERVE! Conversations With Movement Elders a podcast from the National Council of Elders featuring intergenerational conversations between elder and younger organizers about important topics in our movements today.
This episode features a conversation about cultural organizing and public art, and the importance of being able to dream together and speak to and from the most human parts of ourselves through art in our movements for social justice.
This episode is hosted by Frances Reid (she/her) a member of NCOE and a longtime social justice documentary filmmaker based in Oakland, CA.
Joining Frances in this conversation are:
Judy Baca (she/her) is a member of the National Council of Elders and one of America's leading visual artists who has created public art for four decades. Powerful in size and subject matter, Baca's murals bring art to where people live and work. In 1974, Baca founded the City of Los Angeles' first mural program, which produced over 400 murals, employed thousands of local participants, and evolved into an arts organization – the Social and Public Art Resource Center (SPARC). She continues to serve as SPARC's artistic director while also employing digital technology in SPARC's digital mural lab to promote social justice and participatory public arts projects.
Autumn Dawn Gomez (they/she) (Comanche/Taos Pueblo)
was born in Oga PoGeh Owingeh, Santa Fe, NM and calls the Northern Rio Grande Valley home, from Albuquerque to Taos. Autumn studied art and writing at IAIA and then went on to supporting Pueblo Youth through Tewa Women United. During this time, Autumn learned how to teach healthy relationship skills, healthy sexuality and body sovereignty, and trained as a birth doula, attending several births. In 2017, Autumn co-founded Three Sisters Collective, an Indigenous Women and Femme centered art and community care collective looking to create safe spaces for all Indigenous women and their families in Oga P'Ogeh/Santa Fe. As Art Director, Autumn creates public murals and curates accessible art experiences for community members.
Bevelyn Afor Ukah (she/her) is a cultural organizer, artist, and facilitator, raised in Atlanta and now based in Greensboro. She is the director of the Committee on Racial Equity and Food Systems and also works as a consultant for groups engaged in work connected to storytelling, healing, and social change.
CREDITS: Created and produced by the National Council of Elders podcast and oral history team: Aljosie Aldrich Harding, Frances Reid, Eddie Gonzalez, Sarayah Wright, alyzza may, and Rae Garringer.
