 is a flexible digital platform made by A Blade of Grass to explore ecosystems of socially engaged art. Each issue is shaped by a guest collaborator offering a perspective on the field from their vantage point. 

 commissions conversations, texts, and projects.

, the first collection of contributions to 

, centers artists in their own voices to spotlight the wisdom of our creative community. Anchored by a set of twelve questions created by artist Chloë Bass to gain insight into practitioners’ work and person, 

 gathers responses, reflections, and expertise from a range of contributors. Exploring the knowledge passed through creative lineages and the ways socially engaged practice proliferates inside and outside of institutions, 

 provides a window into ongoing conversations between friends and mentors.

This inaugural issue emerges from a period of substantial restructuring and transformation for A Blade of Grass (aBoG). In 2021, aBoG adopted a new governance model that put the leadership of our organization in the hands of practitioners with a deep commitment to socially engaged art. This new board of directors embarked on a fieldwide research project in partnership with the Center for Artistic Activism (C4AA). This study brought together artists, practitioners, and community partners to explore key questions about what socially engaged artists need, and what organizational models can most sustainably meet those needs. Convening socially engaged practitioners and their supporters in research gatherings, virtual sessions, and one-on-one interviews was a joyful process and a deeply educational one. Over 150 participants generously responded to aBoG’s research questions and prompts, offering an expansive breadth of perspectives.

Inspired by this process, our inaugural issue gathers knowledge in another way—diving deeper into intimate conversation between practitioners and exploring new forms to share their wisdom and experience. Under conditions where we are presented with limited and insufficient options, socially engaged artists demonstrate another way—another way to exercise creative skills, another way to be in community, and another way to shape the world around us. They create strategies and interventions that make society more just, kind, safe, and free.

This editorial platform and the direction for 

 was created in collaboration with curator and writer Risa Puleo, who served as an advisor and thought partner to the organization this year. Risa’s profound history of curating, commissioning, and writing about the work of socially engaged artists consistently demonstrates other ways of responding to the urgent conditions of the moment. This issue was overseen by aBoG Program Director Lee Heinemann with support from Executive Director Lu Zhang and Programs and Operations Manager Ixtzel Reynoso. ABoG’s board is ashley sparks, Brett Cook, Diya Vij, Gregory Sale, Michael Premo, and Michael Quattrone. Rebekah Kirkman copyedited these contributions and Team designed the identity and interface for 

. We send our heartfelt thanks to the practitioners who contributed to 

A Blade of Grass (aBoG) is an artist-led nonprofit dedicated to nurturing socially engaged art. Since its founding in 2011, aBoG has provided resources to artists who serve as innovative conduits for social change and foster dialogue around the importance of art to civic life. ABoG stands firm in the idea that creativity and art can be a shared resource that concretely and positively changes lives. In 2021, aBoG began a restructuring process to explore new organizational models of support for socially engaged artists. As part of this process, aBoG’s founders passed on the governance of the organization to artists and arts workers who bring deep histories with socially engaged art. Each board member receives an honorarium for their service as we believe that paying a professional board increases the accountability and proximity of that board to the communities it serves. ABoG is committed to centering artists in our work as well as demonstrating an ethics of care toward each other, our collaborators, and our partners. As we move forward, we’re excited to focus more effort and energy on offering more and broader resources for socially engaged artists across the country, working to be a nimble organization, and sustaining the people who shape this field.

Today, aBoG is in an exciting position to evaluate and respond to current challenges and opportunities, and with new leadership emerge as a strong values-driven organization—a leading artist-governed national funder for socially engaged art.

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