Renamed “Boundless City,” Art for Global Justice began when a team of young people decided they could use art to change the world. After a trip to Accra, Ghana, these young people realized that the world is struggling with poverty and civil hardships. They discuss how when traveling to other nations, everyone has cultural differences and perceptions about the nation and its residents.

Economic inequality, political strife and violence often contribute to the complex issue of global poverty and the understanding of the general public. Fielding requests from communities, Boundless City works as a collaborative partner with schools and city programs to educate children from struggling backgrounds.

They discuss the misconceptions created around other nations, religions, cultures and people. Allowing children to draw and express themselves through art helps them develop healthy outlets for their emotions while giving them a common ground with children from all sorts of backgrounds. Planting the seed of understanding and empathy can help prevent conflict and inequality from growing in the future.

Setting up inner city workshops and gallery showings, Boundless City shared its love of art with cities and young residents while teaching them to think of others. Focusing on New York, Ghana, and Guatemala, the newly christened Boundless City teaches communities to express their desire to help and relate to people all over the world.

Using a wordpress blog, students living in foreign nations can post articles about their trips and discoveries abroad. A recent post from a student living South Africa describes how sculptures constructed in busy intersections give people a sense of community.

The whole point of public art is to foster an ideal of brotherhood and belonging to everyone involved. Art can be made by any soul, anywhere, at almost any time. Conflict and war do not decrease art but rather inspire more of it to spread the fight against injustice — and Boundless City, formerly Art for Global Justice, is an important aspect of this message.

Starting Boundless City was a way to show everyone how a simple image can open someone’s mind and change the way they see something, even how the view the world.

Art can express emotion and encourage change in the hearts of its audience. For  years, people have been telling the history of life through art. Whether elaborately displayed on church ceilings or drawn crudely in the dark with spray paint, artists send their messages into the world.

It is a universally understood form of communication, like a smile.

– Kaitlin Sutherby

Sources: Art for Global Justice (blog), Start Some Good, Art for Global Justice
Photo: Nathan Midgley