Matthew Levee Chavez - Art in Action: Make a Statement, Change Your World

BLOOMSBURY CHILDRENS BOOKS

Bloomsbury Publishing Inc., part of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 1385 Broadway, New York, NY 10018

This electronic edition published in 2018 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

BLOOMSBURY, BLOOMSBURY CHILDRENS BOOKS, and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

First published in the United States of America in September 2018 by Bloomsbury Childrens Books

Text copyright 2018 by Matthew Chavez

Illustrations copyright 2018 by Allison Steinfeld

All rights reserved
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Chavez, Matthew, author.

Title: Art in action : make a statement, change your world / by Matthew Levee Chavez.

Description: New York : Bloomsbury, 2018.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017056226

ISBN: 978-1-6811-9756-2 (HB)
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0086-1 (eBook)

Subjects: LCSH: Artists and communityJuvenile literature. | ArtTechniqueJuvenile literature.

Classification: LCC N72.A76 C54 2018 | DDC 700.1/03dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017056226

Book design by Jeanette Levy

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This book is dedicated to my mom, a lifelong educator and believer in the power of young people.

If youre like a lot of people I know, you skip over the introduction to a book. Because well, you know, it tends to be a little too much blah blah blah and not enough get on with the book already.

So go ahead. Skip it. Challenge normal. And move straight on to the good stuff already. Okay? Cool.

Lets go.

NOW THAT WEVE GOTTEN THAT OUT OF THE WAY...

A while ago, I had an idea. This wasnt unusual for me. In fact, Ive always been someone with a lot of ideasfor things I want to do, things I want to create, challenges I want to take on, changes I want to make in the world. Sometimes my ideas are, shall we say, way out there, and sometimes theyre more practical. Sometimes I let an idea stay in my head, and other times, I just know Ive got to bring it to life.

Thats what happened the time I decided to bring a small table and two folding chairs with me down into a subway station in New York City. My idea was to create a safe space where people could share something that was weighing them downa secret, something sad, something worrying themand walk away feeling a little lighter, freer... even happier. And just like that, Subway Therapy was born. Just about every week Id head underground and connect with strangers who were curious about what I was up to. Sometimes theyd even sit down to spill out the story of their hopes, their dreams, their problems... their life. For the record? Im not a therapist. But thats okay, because Subway Therapy isnt actually about therapy. Its about creating community where there was none.

When I first got started, I wasnt sure how it was going to go, but something inside told me I had to do it anyway. And Im glad I did, because over time lots of people started coming by my office. As my project grew and evolved, I started bringing sticky notes with me for passersby to write or draw on, which gave people a way to turn their big, occasionally stressful feelings into something beautiful. Each day, these sticky notessometimes thousands of themcovered the tile walls of the subway stations, forming huge colorful collages of thoughts, emotions, doodles, and secrets. And when all those notes are stuck up there together, something magical happens. Because theyre no longer the words or images of one person. Theyre a beautiful, collective community art project.

MY WHY

You know that awesome feeling you get when someone has really and truly listened to you and cared about what you have to say? I started Subway Therapy because I wanted to be that person for others... to give busy, frazzled New Yorkers a meaningful way to engage so they felt less alone and more a part of something bigger. And what do you know... it works! Between the people who stop at my table to write out and post a note and the thousands who push the pause button on their harried commute to read a message or two, suddenly strangers from all walks of life are coming together through shared thoughts, feelings, and experiences.

WHATS YOUR WHY?

Your why is your unique motivation for anything you do. To get to know your personal why for an interest of yours, put it through the why test. Just think about something you love to do (a sport, an instrument, a game, a hobby... whatever). Got it? Great. Now answer the following questions:

What excites me most about _______________?

What do I feel when I am doing ____________?

What do I hope will happen because I do _____________?

Your answers to these questions will shine a spotlight on why you love to do what you love to do, and that knowledge can become the secret to fueling your big ideas.

ART IS THE ORIGINAL SOCIAL MEDIA

Subway Therapy is a type of art called social practice, which is a fancy way of saying it takes my creative inspirations and invites other people to be a part of them. Some people call social practice community art, because it depends upon others to be successful. For instance, when other people participate in what Im creating, they actually become part of the art. Every person who puts up a sticky note is an artist. And every person who reads even just one note is part of the art too.

Even when I have a day where only one person stops by to read what another person posted, those two peoplethe writer and the readerhave still made a connection that might never have happened if my project hadnt given them a way to do it. And that matters. Those notes can inspire, comfort, and give hopepretty amazing stuff, right? Just one voice,