Podcast Episode Details

145: Liz Sunde Brings Music To Life: Activist Artists Making Music, Making Change, & Thriving

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Episode 145

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What if your art could both heal your

community & pay your bills? 

If you’re a musician or creative itching to drive real-world change without sacrificing your livelihood, this episode maps a path: how Music to Life evolved from a songwriting contest into a rigorous accelerator that helps artists design, fund, and measure community projects—so you can make change while making a living. 

• Learn how Music To Life helps musicians turn a community cause into a sustainable enterprise
• See real models you can adapt: Vanessa Lively’s Home Street Music built 500+ song circles, 230 sessions, & raised ~$200K serving unhoused neighbors in Austin.
• Learn about proven impact from Benny Esguerra’s mobile studio that measured violence reduction  to poet-healer Myles Bullen co-facilitating prison education to process tough emotions and build trust.

Tune in to hear strategies & stories that helped artists step off the stage and into community change—without abandoning the craft that got them there. 

Notable Mentions

People

• Liz Sunde – Co-founder and Executive Director of Music to Life, an organization empowering socially conscious musicians to become change agents in their communities .
• Bill Cleveland – Host of Art Is Change and Director of the Center for the Study of Art & Community, long-time advocate for artists as community leaders .
• Paul Stookey – Renowned singer-songwriter, member of the legendary folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, and co-founder of Music to Life .
• Vanessa Lively – Austin-based singer-songwriter and founder of Home Street Music, a program using music circles to support people experiencing homelessness .
• Dick Crispo – Artist who co-created the longest indoor mural in the world at Soledad Prison, known for his community arts practice .
• Beny Esguerra – Toronto-based musician and educator, founder of the Mobile Studio Project using music to reduce gang violence through recording sessions .
• Myles Bullen – Indigenous poet/ rap artist from Maine, who collaborated with University of Maine Augusta faculty on prison-based education blending poetry and Holocaust studies .
• Barbara Schaffer Bacon – Arts leader and consultant, co-director of Animating Democracy at Americans for the Arts, key in helping Music to Life secure Mellon Foundation support .
• John Lewis – Late U.S. Congressman and civil rights icon, famous for urging people to make “good trouble” in the fight for justice .

Events

• Kerrville Folk Festival – Long-running Texas festival where Music to Life hosted a 10-year social justice songwriting contest, spotlighting emerging activist musicians .

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  Published on 1 month, 1 week ago