Making Tomorrow
MAKING TOMORROW
R. Gregory Christie
THE ROLE OF THE ARTIST IS TO MAKE THE REVOLUTION IRRESISTIBLE. –TONI CADE BAMBARA
R. GREGORY CHRISTIE
R. GREGORY CHRISTIE is an artist and an illustrator of children’s books and more. He is an NAACP Image Award winner, a six-time Coretta Scott King Honor recipient, and a Caldecott Honor winner. He’s won additional awards from The New York Times, the Museum of Tolerance, and The Boston Globe. Christie is focused on encouraging audiences to find a love for learning and to build bridges of empathy.
MURALS AND SOCIAL CHANGE
The muralist tradition’s shared history with the fight for social justice began in 1920s Mexico, following the Mexican Revolution. As the country sought to establish a unified, new cultural identity, artists like Diego Rivera mobilized the accessibility of murals to envision and elevate shared social and political goals. Murals have since flourished as tools for cultural shift and movement building.
In the two years following George Floyd’s murder by the police, 2700 murals honoring him and the Movement for Black Lives were created, amounting to about four murals every day. They have shaped public culture in Kenya, Palestine, Belgium, Venezuela, Syria, and many more countries.
Across generations and around the world, murals have expressed community values and struggles, created fellowship, empowered advocates, and catalyzed change—exactly what we need in the fight for climate justice.
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Widewalls: Mural - The History and The Meaning
Widewalls: All You Need to Know About Mexican Muralism and Muralists
Book an Artist Blog: Discover the Origins of Street Art and Mural Painting
Frieze: How Murals Have Served as Mirrors for Political Change
The Collector: The Art on the Berlin Wall: Sentiments of East and West Berlin
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The Metropolitan Museum: Art, Protest, and Public Space
NYT: The 25 Most Influential Works of American Protest Art since World War II
