Intersection for the Arts Changemaker social is on April 25th and celebrates artists, educators and activists helping to shape social change in San Francisco.
Join us in celebrating our community of artists and supporters of the arts on April 25, 2014 at the Changemaker Social.
What is a Changemaker?
Changemakers are members of our community who have committed time, talent, resources, and financial support towards art and social change. In this series of blog posts, we are highlighting a handful of the countless number of artists and supporters who make Intersection thrive.
———————————————————————————————
Photo Credit: Cody T. Williams
Changemaker Profile: Mia Nakano
Mia Nakano is the owner of Mia Nakano Photography and Director of Visibility Project.
This is why I love Intersection…
I love Intersection for the Arts commitment to intergenerational communities, lifting up multidisciplinary arts, and Intersection’s intentional presentation of work from the diverse cultures that are the Bay Area.
What role do you see the arts playing in your community?
For the past 11 years, my focus as an artist has been to create more visibility for LGBTQ Asian Americans. So art is everything. Multimedia is used to document and share stories of historically underrepresented communities. The power of photography crosses linguistic barriers. Social media ensures that these voices are finally heard, and online presence creates access. Without art as I know it, the stories and histories of my community would be lost. I want to stop that loss right now and teach future generations the skills and importance of telling our own stories. Art is at the forefront of social change, we are the tipping point for creating movement, agitating conversations, and pushing movements out of communities into more “mainstream” audiences. It is not confined to a specific age, class, or technical ability. Art empowers simply through practice.
What inspires you to continue to strive for social change?
Until I see equality and equity of access and visibility available to everyone I call family, which includes people of color, the entire LGBTQ spectrum, indigenous, elder, disabled, immigrant, and every compartmentalized minority box people put us in, I will continue to strive for social change. I’m inspired by the people around me who I consider my movement family. We learn from each other through failures and victories, large and small. We literally feed ourselves through shared meals with deep conversations. I’m inspired by those who are two, three times my age, who have been doing social change work for decades and continue. I’m inspired by the dream that the work I do will make the impossible possible in future generations.
Why are you attending The Changemaker Social?
The work and people at Intersection for the Arts represent what I think all artistic spaces should be doing. Intentionally using the arts to invigorate and empower intergenerational and underrepresented communities. The Changemaker Social highlights this work and the working artists who do this work daily.
———————————————————————————————
Come celebrate changemakers like Mia Nakano with Visibility Project at the Intersection for the Arts Changemaker Social on April 25th!