Can Activist Artists Bring DEI Back From the Dead? Part 3

ART IS CHANGE: Tactics and Tools for Activist Artists and Cultural Organizers

What if the key to undoing bias and building empathy isn’t just policy or protest—but a complicated art and neuroscience dance that facilitates the rewiring the human brain?

In this final chapter of our three-part Breaking Ice series, we move from the stage to the synapse. After witnessing how theater can unearth hidden truths and foster real conversations, we now explore the neuroscience behind it all. What’s really happening inside us when we struggle with difference? And how can understanding the brain help advance the work of DEI?

• Dive into the emerging science of imagination, fear, empathy, and storytelling—and what it reveals about our social behaviors.
• Learn why art, especially performance, is such a powerful tool for reconfiguring how we perceive “the other.”
• Hear a heartfelt, layperson’s journey into the brain’s wiring—and how Breaking Ice exemplifies the potential for rewiring hearts and minds through shared experience.

Spending time with the Breaking Ice theater based diversity, equity, and inclusion program gave rise to a question: How might new insights about how the brain works might help us better understand the how and why of our continuing struggle with difference? Here is what ensued.

LISTEN TO Part 1 of this series

LISTEN TO Part 2 of this series

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Notable Mentions

Breaking Ice is the award-winning program of Pillsbury House Theatre that for over 20 years has been “breaking the ice” for courageous and productive dialogue around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. A diverse company of professional actors portrays real-life situations that are customized to meet the goals, needs and culture of each unique organization we serve.

Pillsbury House and Theater is a groundbreaking “new model for human service work that recognizes the power of the arts and culture to stimulate community participation, investment and ownership.”

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi: was a Hungarian-American psychologist. He recognized and named the psychological concept of "flow", a highly focused mental state conducive to productivity.[1][2] He was the Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Management at Claremont Graduate University. He was also the former head of the department of psychology at the University of Chicago and of the department of sociology and anthropology at Lake Forest College.[3]

The ART IS CHANGE Library for Learning, and Research

Change the Story Collections - Our full catalogue of Episodes in 12 Collections: Justice Arts, Art & Healing, Cultural Organizing, Arts Ed./Children & Youth, Community Arts Training, Music for Change, Theater for Change, Change Making Media, Creative Climate Action, Art of the Rural

Sources

Question 2: How does our environment influence what we think and believe?

1.Lobel, T. (2014) Sensations: The New Science of Physical Intelligence, Simon & Schuster.

2 Eagleman, David. The Brain: The Story of You. Pg., 105, Vintage Books, 2017

Question 4: Why are stories important?

3.Hamlin, JK, Wynn, K & Bloom, P (2007) “Social evaluation by preverbal infants.” Nature, 450(7169), 557-59.

Question 5: What is empathy and what does it have to do with artmaking?

4 Eagleman, David. The Brain: The Story of You. Pg., 143, Vintage Books, 2017

5 Ibid.

Question 11: If human cooperation and connection are so important, why do we struggle so with difference?

6. How do children develop a sense of self? - The Conversation. http://theconversation.com/how-do-children- develop-a-sense-of-self-5611

7. Toddler | Preschool & Daycare | The Montessori Centre St Lucia. http://www.themontessoricentre.com/toddlers/

8. Eagleman, David. The Brain: The Story of You. Pg., 143, Vintage Books, 2017

Question 13: Why is play so important to human development?

9 Asma, Steven The History of Imagination, pg., 84, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2017

10 Asma, Stephen, The Evolution of Imagination, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2017

Question 15: How Can human creativity help us out of this mess?

11 Boyd, Brian, On the Origin of Stories, Harvard University Press, Boston, 2010

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Change the Story / Change the World is a podcast that chronicles the power of art and community transformation, providing a platform for activist artists to share their experiences and gain the skills and strategies they need to thrive as agents of social change.

Through compelling conversations with artist activists, artivists, and cultural organizers, the podcast explores how art and activism intersect to fuel cultural transformation and drive meaningful change. Guests discuss the challenges and triumphs of community arts, socially engaged art, and creative placemaking, offering insights into artist mentorship, building credibility, and communicating impact.

Episodes delve into the realities of artist isolation, burnout, and funding for artists, while celebrating the role of artists in residence and creative leadership in shaping a more just and inclusive world. Whether you’re an emerging or established artist for social justice, this podcast offers inspiration, practical advice, and a sense of solidarity in the journey toward art and social change.