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151: Should Activist Artists & Cultural Organizers be Running for Office - Tom Tresser Says, "ABSOLUTELY!"
Episode 151
What if the solution to our democracy’s crisis isn’t another white paper or study—but an artist running for office?
In this episode, civic organizer and “public defender” Tom Tresser reveals why he feels America’s nonprofit and creative sectors are missing in action when it comes to power, policy, and public trust. As arts funding shrinks and disinformation grows, Tom challenges creatives to stop “staying in their lane” and instead step up as leaders in civic life.
In it we’ll:
• Learn how a small, unfunded coalition stopped the 2016 Olympics from coming to Chicago—and why that matters for creative change agents everwhere
• We’ll also Discover why Tom thinks creative people are uniquely qualified to solve society’s most funky problems—and how artistic skills and political strategies are cut from the same cloth
And inspired by a radical, hopeful model for building civic power from the ground up, rooted in creative intelligence, story making, and community action.
Notable Mentions
The 100K Project: Tom Tresser's initiative that seeks to train, and propel 100,000 people from the arts, nonprofit, social services, education, and science sectors (and their supporters) to run for local office or help those with our values run as champions of service, science, justice, equity, peace, creativity, and the public sector.
People
Bill Cleveland: Host of Art Is Change and long-time practitioner in arts-based community development and civic storytelling.
Tom Tresser: Chicago civic organizer, public defender of the public sector, and co-founder of No Games Chicago.
Richard M. Daley: Former Chicago mayor behind the 2016 Olympic bid effort.
Barack Obama: Then–senator and later president who supported Chicago’s Olympic bid.
Sam Zell: Billionaire and owner of the Chicago Tribune, a supporter of the Olympic bid.
Senator Jesse Helms: Conservative senator known for attacks on the NEA.
Pat Robertson: Christian Coalition founder and major force in culture-war politics.
Andres Serrano: Artist whose work Piss Christ became central to NEA controversies.
The NEA Four: Performance artists whose denied NEA grants fueled national censorship debate.
Frederick Douglass: Abolitionist and civic educator cited as a model for grassroots truth-telling.
Paul Wellstone: U.S. senator whose “organize–advocate–run” triangle influences Tresser’s civic theory.