Solidarity Economy Shorts is a podcast collaboration between New Economy Coalition and Cooperative Journal Media. Tune in for more stories at Cooperative Journal Podcast & find the podcast at your favorite streaming platform. 

Solidarity Economy Shorts are conversations with frontline organizations and individuals that are putting solidarity economy principles into practice and using different strategies to build an economic system where communities are meeting their own needs outside of capitalism. 

In our fifth short, Ebony speaks with Lizzie Suarez and Lily Xie, two of the most recent Creative Wildfire grantees. We talk about their roles as artist and cultural organizers, challenges that arise when collaborating with organizations, what can symbiosis look like when artists and orgs co-create, the value artists bring beyond being producers, and the cultural shifts needed to have a just transition in the arts.

CREATIVE WILDFIRE, a culture shift and narrative collaboration between Movement Generation, Climate Justice Alliance and New Economy Coalition, supports artists and grassroots organizations to create art that fuels our movements and imagines the world we need to thrive. This cultural organizing project is an embodiment of the strength of coalitions to resource the wider web. Three powerhouse organizations in the movement for a Just Transition and the Solidarity Economy pooled their budgets to redistribute to artists – Movement Generation, Climate Justice Alliance, and New Economy Coalition. 

In 2023-2024, Creative Wildfire convened a 10 month cohort that prioritized deeper relationship building, co-creation with a partner organization, and political education. 7 incredible artists and 7 organizations were selected to explore what’s possible when we shift from transaction to collaborative liberation. 

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THINGS THAT YOU’LL LEARN: The roles of artists and cultural organizers, challenges that arise when collaborating with organizations, what can symbiosis look like when artists and orgs co-create, the value artists bring beyond being producers, and the cultural shifts needed to have a just transition in the arts.

👉 Important notes & links:
Look Loud: visual strategy accomplices, supporting communities taking control of their own media narratives
Building Irresistible Movements: Best collaboration practices for organizations and visual artists
Cultural Solidarity Fund: A $1M pooled fund by New York City arts and cultural organizations
Pedagogy of the Oppressed book by Paulo Freire
Creative Study ‘Creatives Rebuild Guaranteed Income’: A free course about the three year guaranteed income initiative for artists in NYC
Cartoonist Cooperative

Credits:
Episode Music by MADlines
Podcast collaboration between New Economy Coalition and Cooperative Journal Media (@cooperativejournal).