As an organization dedicated to enriching artists’ cultural capital and political movements’ capacity for social change, we regularly partner with a number of organizations to strengthen each others’ work through creativity:

Asian American Writers’ Workshop
Established in 1991, AAWW is a national not-for-profit arts organization devoted to the creating, publishing, developing and disseminating of creative writing by Asian Americans—in other words, AAWW is the preeminent organization dedicated to the belief that Asian American stories deserve to be told. We’re building the Asian literary culture of tomorrow through our curatorial platform, which includes our New York events series and our online editorial initiatives. Our curatorial take is intellectual and alternative, pop cultural and highbrow, warm and artistically innovative, and vested in New York City communities. CultureStrike Magazine is produced in collaboration with AAWW.

Center for New Community
The Center for New Community (CNC) was established in 1995 by a group of religious leaders and community organizers to address the nation’s most intractable social, economic and racial injustices. In the nearly two decades since, CNC has had significant impact through its organizing and programmatic initiatives across the nation, and is widely recognized for its work to counter racism and organized bigotry. CNC was founded on the principle that a concerted, long-term effort by individuals, families, congregations, communities, and civic organizations to address issues of social, economic, and racial justice, is both necessary and achievable. CultureStrike is proud to partner with the Center for New Community in producing UndocuNation festivals across the country.

Citizen Engagement Lab
CultureStrike’s programmatic work is strengthened through our partnership with CEL Education Fund (CELEF). As a participant in the CELEF Powerful Communities program, CultureStrike receives intensive support in organizational development, including strategic planning, coaching and mentorship, facilitation, operations, and fundraising support; their 501(c)3 fiscal sponsorship of our work provides comprehensive legal, fiscal, and governance stability.

The Culture Group
The Culture Group is a collaboration of social change experts and creative producers who believe that cultural change is essential to social change. Functioning as a pop-up think tank, The Culture Group joined together from 2010-2013 to advance progressive change through expansive, strategic, and values-driven cultural organizing. The Culture Group facilitates the coordination of cultural producers and artists, progressive organizers, and thought leaders in cultural campaigns; conducts research and evaluation; and promotes the value of cultural strategies in making change. The Culture Group is a project of Air Traffic Control, and is a major collaborator on the Migration Is Beautiful initiative.

Justseeds
Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative is a decentralized network of artists committed to making print and design work that reflects a radical social, environmental, and political stance. With members working from the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, Justseeds operates both as a unified collaboration of similarly minded printmakers and as a loose collection of creative individuals with unique viewpoints and working methods. We believe in the transformative power of personal expression in concert with collective action. To this end, we produce collective portfolios, contribute graphics to grassroots struggles for justice, work collaboratively both in- and outside the co-op, build large sculptural installations in galleries, and wheatpaste on the streets—all while offering each other daily support as allies and friends. Justseeds collaborates regularly with CultureStrike on fine art print portfolios and is a partner in our Ecological Justice project.

Movement Generation
Movement Generation Justice & Ecology Project inspires and engages in transformative action towards the liberation and restoration of land, labor, and culture. We are rooted in vibrant social movements led by low-income communities and communities of color committed to a Just Transition away from profit and pollution and towards healthy, resilient and life-affirming local economies. Movement Generation is a partner on our Ecological Justice project.

People’s Climate March
With world leaders coming to New York City for a landmark summit on climate change in September 2014, people around the world took to the streets to demand action to end the climate crisis. We are coming together around the world like never before to demand a brighter and more just future for everyone. CultureStrike participated in the New York City march and led art parties leading up to it, and will continue to collaborate on our Ecological Justice initiatives.

Revolutions Per Minute
RPM provides strategy and support for artists making change. To realize the potential of music and comedy, RPM believes artists need expert support and proven strategies for making change. Thanks to the donations RPM receives from foundations, artists, and others, RPM is able to provide all of this to any artist, free-of-charge. RPM is a major collaborator on the Migration Is Beautiful initiative.

Stuff We Like
Be sure to check out the work of other great groups and individuals who we partner with from time to time, as well as some that we just really, really like:

Alternate Roots
Black Girl Dangerous
Colorlines
CounterPoint Arts
Feministing
Galeria de la Raza
National Association of Latino Arts & Cultures (NALAC)
National Day Laborer Organizing Network
National Domestic Workers Alliance
Presente

Funders
Of course, we wouldn’t be able to do this work without the generous support of our communities and grants from foundations. We’re especially pleased to thank:

Akonadi Foundation
Compton Foundation
East Bay Community Foundation
Ford Foundation
Four Freedoms Fund
Nathan Cummings Foundation
Surdna Foundation
Unbound Philanthropy

CultureStrike’s approach grows out of a deep history of artistic leadership within and alongside social movements, from the Mexican mural tradition to the art of the Black Panther newspapers, to ACT UP’s street theater and beyond. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, but we want to intentionally up the game by investing in the power of art as a movement in and of itself. For us, this rich legacy proves that art doesn’t just make politics look prettier; with the right resources, art allows us to explore the root causes of problems and experiment with creative solutions without apology or baggage. We believe in the creative leadership of artists as agents of social change, creatives who think differently than advocates.

What’s makes our work unique is that we intentionally bring together various strands of cultural and political organizing in order to build shared strategy with creativity at the center. As an organization, we can be described in many ways—we’re part lab, activist studio, publisher, think tank, and network—but we’re not creative consultants for a political movement. Instead, our role is to demonstrate that organizing itself can—and must—adapt to be more creative, daring, and passionate. Even the slickest campaign can’t compete with a poet’s turn-of-phrase, that song stuck in your head, or the power of dancing together in the street. That’s why we believe that movements have more potential when they move away from short-term policy battles, and instead nurture imaginative and expressive engagement that plants the seeds of sustainable change and collective action.

Our work falls into four overlapping program areas:

An Artist Network that supports and connects artists with opportunities to develop their own work and political power.
A Knowledge Lab that through research and workshops demonstrates why culture indeed matters.
Literary projects such as CultureStrike Magazine and UndocuWriting that publish and support original works of fiction, journalism, and poetry.
Cultural Projects & Events, ranging from visual campaigns like Migration Is Beautiful to multi-media festivals like UndocuNation that bring people together for moments of profound transformation.

As a network led by migrant artists—and driven by our experiences as women, people of color, queer, trans, working-class, and undocumented people—CultureStrike aims not only to change the art of politics, but also the politics of art-making. The art world (like media and politics) is still dominated by white men, and countless talented artists, writers, and performers don’t receive institutional support, have trouble building community, and aren’t given credit for the impact of their work. By offering historically marginalized artists increased opportunities and valuing their work, we disrupt the status quo of the art world and ensure that new voices yield new stories as well as innovative ways of working.