Artivism: The Power of Art to Change the World
Saturday, October 5, 2024 | 1 - 2pm
In the Across a Wide Ocean Literary arts gallery
Tickets:
$12: Includes museum admission, MMAM members free.
$27: Includes lecture, museum admission, and signed copy of Born on the Water or Artivist at a discounted price.
Through his powerful Artivism and his experiences as a Black Artist, Nikkolas Smith takes the audience into a visual journey to talk about how Art can spark important conversations around our society's greatest broken bones and inspire us to make positive changes. From his beginnings at Walt Disney Imagineering to creating compelling viral art and best-selling picture books focused on history and social justice, to crafting concept art and posters for Oscar winning movies, to collaborating with important organizations to shed a light on important topics, Nikkolas Smith combines talent, passion and activism to inspire the world.
Nikkolas Smith is the illustrator for "The 1619 Project: Born on the Water" by Nikole Hannah-Jones and Renée Watson and (Penguin Random House, 2021), that is featured in the current MMAM exhibition, Across a Wide Ocean: Remarkable Stories about the Origins of Identity.
About Nikkolas Smith
After designing theme parks at Walt Disney Imagineering for 11 years, Nikkolas Smith (b. 1985) is now an artivist, concept artist, children’s book author, film Illustrator, and movie poster designer. In addition to illustrating numerous works by other authors, he is the author/illustrator of the picture books The Golden Girls of Rio (Sky Pony, 2016), which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award); My Hair is Poofy & That’s Okay (VJS Productions, 2017), and World Cup Women (Sky Pony, 2019). Smith describes himself as an artivist, marrying art with social activism. As an illustrator of color, he creates art that can spark important conversations around social justice in today’s world and inspire meaningful change. His 2023 picture book The Artivist (Kokila) shows how children can combine art and activism in their daily lives.