Canadian Journal of Action Research Volume 22, Issue 3, 2022, pages 1-2
ABOUT THE ARTIST AND ARTWORK
Melanie Schambach
Social Artist - Colombia, Guatemala, Canada
Societies and the environment are facing extraordinary challenges, and the cultural mindsets that chainwheels the systems that are causing harm, seem to take longer to transform than the time we have to save ourselves. New methods to engage people to collective action, radical collaborations, and courageous processes that uplift the spirit of connection, hope and imagination, are some of the ways to contribute to creating healthier and more balanced earth.
Through participatory painting, I aim to challenge our internalized conditioning of false identities, re-discover our senses, re-connect with the interdependence of the world around us, and mobilize people to take action in the shared responsibilities for the wellbeing of all.
Social Art, also sometimes called Community Based Art or Socially Engaged Art, aims to act against existing power structures by levelling decision-making power as much as possible and opening space for voices who are often misheard or miss represented. Collective creative processes open spaces for the masses to recover life skills that are essential for large scale changes in systems thinking, such as: leading from vulnerability, inviting and embracing authenticity, learning from failing, collaborating through difference, leaning into tension and uncertainty, expressing feelings, growing courage for difficult conversation, expanding our listening for empathy and compassion.
When I entered for the first time the oldest building at Brescia University College, I felt in my heart the presence of both of my grandmothers - their whispers felt like a calling to unwrap what was understood as service and community throughout the 100-year trajectory of Brescia University College. For me personally, the stories that we see in this painting are not only a testimony in time, but also a call to take responsibility today on how being in service to community should feel like - not only for the Brescia’s community members but for everyone.
Cover Art Schambach
The Canadian Journal of Action Research, Volume, 22, Issue 3 (2022), 1-2.
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BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE:
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Melanie Schambach is a social artist known for her participatory mobile murals. She invites individuals, communities, and institutions to work together on specific social issues by creating public art through collaboratively participatory formats. With a BFA in visual arts and other trainings in arts therapeutics, she has engaged more than 1500 people in creating mobile murals, and facilitated more than 1000 workshops on creativity, belonging, and self- discovery to diverse populations.
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