By Isaak Brickner
Over the past year, college campuses around the nation have been a hotspot for individuals yearning to express their ideas on current issues. Even last semester, Adelphi’s Garden City campus had a few instances of students feeling the need to speak up through peaceful protests. For students looking to mix this unrest with art, look no further than the Adelphi Artivism Club, which aims to provide an environment where students share their feelings about current or personal issues through any creative medium they choose.
At their Open Mic event on Oct. 1 in room 117 of the University Center, club members had the opportunity to be vulnerable and share their poems and drawings with an audience of their peers.
River Gorman, a club board member, shared a poem about the ever-consuming tide of terror that war brings, describing the people who had lost their lives due to ever-persistent issues. Rather than giving cold hard facts and information, Gorman implored people to create something with their signature flair.
“Art and creativity, when connected to a bigger issue in the world, allows you to show a unique perspective on the issue,” Gorman, a senior psychology major, explained. “It brings an individualism to the issue at hand that may be lost through simply repeating information.”
After Gorman’s poem and a few moments of hesitation, a few of the four students looking to join the club shifted to the front of the room with their works of art shining from their phones, ready to be shared.
One of the first to come forward, leaning relaxed in a chair against the wall was junior Candice Garwood, an international studies major. She shared a poem on the debilitating feeling of depression and how misunderstood one feels when struggling with it. She traced the outline of events throughout the day that one suffering from depression feels, from the constant exhaustion to the inability to reach out. Even with a poem this vulnerable, Garwood said she felt comfortable sharing it with her fellow peers due to the environment created in the Artivism Club.
“Using art, whichever medium it may be, will always be one of the most powerful ways to contribute to social change,” Garwood said. “This club allows for a very interesting way to connect with people outside of an academic context.”
Artivism is important for the very reason of connecting people outside of an academic context, said faculty advisor Argie Agelarkis, a professor of criminal justice and visual arts at Adelphi and co-founder of Artivism: The Power of Art for Social Transformation. “Art catches the eyes better than simple words do. People are drawn towards it and want to understand more from it. It allows for each person to interact with it differently,” she said.
The Artivism Club hosts events on Tuesdays at 4 pm in room 117 of the UC where members and newcomers alike can share or create artwork with the club. Board member J-P Victor, an exercise science major, asked any Adelphi student with a passion for change to come by.
“I know there are people who are likely dying to express themselves, and we want to give them a safe space for them to do so,” he said. “Whether it be through poetry, painting, drawing, anything of that sort, just come by and let it out with no judgment.”
The Artivism Club is derived from the initiative Artivism: The Power of Art for Social Transformation, which is an interdisciplinary, multi-institutional global collaboration to engage people in transforming society through the power of art. According to the university’s website, their vision is to generate a movement with committed social artivists in response to historic global concerns; generate community through multidisciplinary teamwork for a more dignified and meaningful coexistence; and nurture confidence in taking continuous action from wherever you are by means of reciprocity. In addition to Agelarakis, Artivism: The Power of Art for Social Transformation was co-founded and is co-produced by Carolina Cambronero Varela '09, an adjunct faculty member.