Art as Activism as a Blog Post

By: Michael Boyle ‘18

On the surface, “art” and “activism” feel as if they could conflict with one another. Activism has a specific goal rooted in the real world and often brushes up against the uglier side of humanity. Art, on the other hand, is about boundless creative expression, often depicting beauty. Yet at their cores, the artist and the activist are quite similar people. Both are deeply passionate about their emotionally involving work. So the question becomes, how does someone exist as both an artist and and activist? Last Sunday, at the Los Angeles Festival of Books, I attended a panel that answered this very question.