In the 6th year of our annual Spring event, Lesley University’s Graduate School of Arts and Social Sciences and Violence Transformed look to embrace the Artist as Social Activist with The Future of the Past: Art and Activism. With this exhibit we affirm the power of art, artists and art-making to hold a mirror to us all and to thereby ask us all to take a close look at the world we live in: is this the world we want? is this a society with which we are content? Should we, can we, will we act to improve our world, to address the violence and harm that humankind seems prone to, to pursue social justice for all? The artists sharing their work at the exhibit are asking us to get involved — to be part of the process of social change and to join them in a search for social justice.

Video by Bob McMackin, a memorial to the victims of the Parkland shooting on February 14, 2018: