Social | #ArtistHotline Returns to Twitter on July 18

Tweeting at the intersection of art and social justice.

Artists are often at the forefront of merging advocacy and activism with their careers. This month’s #ArtistHotline will explore how to do so in a sustainable way, as well as a range of other topics. #ArtistHotline is a professional development Twitter chat that takes place on the third Wednesday of each month, and it’s designed to build community across disciplines and borders. 

The schedule for each #ArtistHotline covers a variety of subjects through a generalized Open Chat, while also exploring select key themes in-depth through a Guest Chat segment and an Artist/Arts Administrator Q&A. Read on to learn what we have planned for this month, and to find pointers for participating.

July 18 #ArtistHotline Schedule

• 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM EST: #ArtistHotline begins with an Open Chat. During this segment, ask questions and receive advice on any arts career topic. Planning a group exhibition and want tips for publicizing it? Feeling stumped by an application process, or wondering how to find resources for parent artists? Ask these questions during the Open Chat, and NYFA staff, partner organizations, and artists will offer solutions.
• 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM EST: During “The Artist as Activist” Guest Chat, a virtual panel will discuss how to merge a creative practice with social justice work. We’ll hear from educator and writer Walidah Imarisha, rapper and poet Omar Offendum, and transmedia artist Thenmozhi Soundararajan.
• 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM EST: During this Q&A, Jess Thom, aka Touretteshero, will share her experiences as a visual, performing, and participatory artist, and will provide advice for artists with disabilities on how to get their work out there. 

Join the #ArtistHotline Conversation

Here’s how you can participate in #ArtistHotline throughout the day:

• If you don’t already have one, create a free Twitter account now.
• Follow the #ArtistHotline conversation live on Twitter.
• Tweet your questions using the hashtag #ArtistHotline in each tweet.

Want to join in but not sure how to get started? Try reading our Tips to Take Best Advantage of the Day. Then, chime in on Twitter on Wednesday, July 18!

“The Artist as Activist” Guest Chat Participants

Walidah Imarisha is an educator, writer, public scholar, and poet. She is the editor of two anthologies including Octavia’s Brood: Science Fiction Stories From Social Justice Movements. Imarisha is the author of Angels with Dirty Faces: Three Stories of Crime, Prison and Redemption, which won a 2017 Oregon Book Award, and the poetry collection Scars/Stars. She spent 6 years with Oregon Humanities’ Conversation Project as a public scholar facilitating programs across the state about Oregon Black history, alternatives to incarceration, and the history of Hip Hop. Imarisha has taught in Stanford University’s Program of Writing and Rhetoric, Portland State University’s Black Studies Department, and Oregon State University’s Women Gender Sexuality Studies Department. Learn more about Imarisha here.

Find Imarisha tweeting @WalidahImarisha.

Omar Offendum is a Syrian-American rapper and poet living in Los Angeles, CA. Known for his unique blend of Hip Hop & Arabic poetry, he’s been featured on prominent world news outlets, lectured at a number of academic institutions, collaborated with major museums and cultural organizations, and helped raise millions of dollars for various humanitarian relief groups. A graduate of the University of Virginia’s School of Architecture, he’s been able to carve a distinct path for himself as a thoughtful entertainer and activist, speaking to diverse global audiences over the course of his decade-long career. Offendum was recently named a Kennedy Center Citizen Artist Fellow for 2018-2019. Learn more about Offendum here.

Find Offendum tweeting @Offendum.

Thenmozhi Soundararajan is a Dalit-American transmedia artist, technologist, and journalist who believes story is the most important unit of social change. Her work has been recognized by the Producers Guild of America Diversity Program, The Museum of Contemporary Art, MIT Center for New Media Studies, The National Center for the Humanities, The National Science Foundation, and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. She was a Robert Rauschenberg Inaugural Artist as Activist Fellow and is a current Atlantic Fellow for Racial Equity. Learn more about Soundararajan’s project DALIT NATION here.

Find Soundararajan tweeting @dalitdiva.

“Strategies for Artists with Disabilities” Q&A

Jess Thom is a visual, performing, and participatory artist (and part-time superhero) based in London. Thom co-founded Touretteshero in 2010 as a creative response to her experience of living with Tourettes Syndrome. She performed at Glastonbury, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, DaDaFest, and the Unlimited Festival in London. In 2014, Thom co-devised the award-winning stage show, Backstage in Biscuit Land, which has been performed in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere. Touretteshero also hosted Adventures in Biscuit Land at Tate Modern. Thom, a Wellcome Engagement Fellow and an Arts Council England Change Maker, is committed to increasing opportunities that allow the experiences of people living with Tourettes Syndrome to be heard, and to “changing the world one tic at a time.”

Find Thom tweeting @touretteshero.

Inspired by the NYFA Source Hotline, #ArtistHotline is an initiative dedicated to creating an ongoing online conversation around the professional side of artistic practice. #ArtistHotline occurs on the third Wednesday of each month on Twitter. Our goal is to help artists discover the resources needed, online and off, to develop sustainable careers.

This initiative is supported by the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

Images, from top: Hank Willis Thomas (Fellow in Photography ‘06), Liberation of T.O.: Ain’t No Way I’M GOIN’ BACK TO WOIK FA’ MASSA IN DATE DARN FIELD, 2005; courtesy Walidah Imarisha, photo by Pete Shaw; courtesy Omar Offendum, photo by Alex Myung; courtesy Thenmozhi Soundararajan; courtesy Jess Thom, photo by James Lyndasy; social media images: Mckinney 75402