Solidarity Economy Shorts #5: Artists as Organizers with Creative Wildfire

Cooperative Journal

Solidarity Economy Shorts Episode #5

A collaboration with New Economy Coalition

Solidarity Economy Shorts are conversations with frontline organizations & individuals that are putting solidarity economy principles into practice. They are using different strategies to build an economic system where communities are meeting their own needs outside of capitalism.

Creative Wildfire supports artists and grassroots organizations to create art that fuels our movements and imagines the world we need to thrive. This cultural organizing project is an embodiment of the strength of coalitions to resource the wider web. Three powerhouse organizations in the movement for a Just Transition and the Solidarity Economy pooled their budgets to redistribute to artists - Movement Generation, Climate Justice Alliance, and New Economy Coalition.

In 2023-2024, Creative Wildfire convened a 10 month cohort that prioritized deeper relationship building, co-creation with a partner organization, and political education. 7 incredible artists and 7 organizations were selected to explore what's possible when we shift from transaction to collaborative liberation.

In this episode Ebony speaks with Lizzie Suarez and Lily Xie, two of the most recent Creative Wildfire grantees. We talk about their roles as artist and cultural organizers, challenges that arise when collaborating with organizations, what can symbiosis look like when artists and orgs co-create, the value artists bring beyond being producers, and the cultural shifts needed to have a just transition in the arts.

Show Notes

New Economy Coalition

Creative Wildfire

Lily Xie Website

Lizzie Suarez Website

Look Loud: visual strategy accomplices, supporting communities taking control of their own media narratives

Building Irresistible Movements: Best collaboration practices for organizations and visual artists

Pedagogy of the Oppressed book by Paulo Freire

Creative Study ‘Creatives Rebuild Guaranteed Income’: A free course about the three year guaranteed income initiative for artists in NYC

Cartoonist Cooperative

Episode Music by MADlines