Art Festival features art for impact

On Friday, March 3rd, Inspire Citizens facilitators Scott Jamieson and LeeAnne Lavender were thrilled to participate in the ASOMEX 2023 Arts Festival hosted by the Peterson Schools in Mexico.

This event was an annual event until Covid occurred and 2023 marked the reintroduction of the festival with both on-site and virtual components. Scott and LeeAnne hosted the online component of the program and facilitated four core workshops:

• Connect with Nature through Eco-Photography

• Become a Data Artist

• Give a Social Movement a Soundtrack

• Advocate for Well-Being with Documentary Films

All four workshops were designed to introduce students to an artistic genre in connection with a local or global issue, or with a key theme such as personal and collective well-being. Students had time to discuss ideas, create, and synthesize their learning, and Scott and LeeAnne enjoyed interacting with the students who participated in all four sessions.

Connecting art with advocacy and active global citizenship is meaningful and impactful on so many levels. Young American artist Autumn De Forest says: “My goal as an artist is to create art that makes people look at the world in a different way,” and ASOMEX 2023 embodied that spirit and intent.

Below: Student photos from the Eco-Photography workshop along with some images from workshop slides.