The U.S. Department of Arts & Culture invites you to take time this October to envision and celebrate the future.
EVERYONE IS WELCOME!
Sign Up as an Individual or Organizational Partner
By September 21, 2015!
www.usdac.us/dare-to-imagine/
THE ACTION: The people-powered U.S. Department of Arts and Culture invites you to share your visions of the future from October 10-18, 2015. Use your creativity to get people to imagine the world they want and figure out what it will take to get there.
More than 120 artists, activists, students, educators, city planners, youth, community organizers, arts administrators, and others have signed up to be USDAC “Emissaries of the Future” who will create pop-up arts activities in public spaces that will encourage people passing by to think about the future they want. The resulting texts, images, videos, and more will all be uploaded to the USDAC’s online platform to create a crowd-sourced vision of the future, inspiring art, policy, and community action.
These public arts activities or “Imagination Stations” can be set up for one day, the entire eight-day stretch, or anything in between. They can be movable (think ice cream truck), tiny (think lemonade stand), ad hoc (think of a circle of soapboxes in a vacant lot), or elaborately planned (think art installation in a gallery space). They can pop up at pre-existing meetings, markets, or performances, or offer their own programming, shining a spotlight on the people, projects, and solutions moving us from imagination to action, toward a more just and sustainable world. In addition to participating in the “Imagination Stations,” people will be able to visit the #DareToImagine web portal to engage in this act of collective imagination and connect with USDAC’s partner organizations.
WHY: Too often, we are persuaded that our voices don’t count or that the future is determined by a powerful few. We forget that when we have the audacity to dream in public, unleash our imagination, and turn it into action, we can move the world.
This action will remind people that social imagination is a radical act. Together we will imagine a future that restores personal and collective agency, shifts our dominant narratives, and affirms that all of us make the future.
DARE TO IMAGINE OUR FUTURE! Join This Action As An Individual Now>>
When you sign up to be an “Emissary from the Future,” USDAC trainers will provide you with online video workshops and one-to-one technical assistance as needed. You will be able to upload information about your event to our official national map.
To make it as easy as possible for you, USDAC will provide a comprehensive toolkit that includes plans for a range of low- to high-tech “Imagination Stations;” PDFs for signs, badges, and games; advice about organizing and promoting local events; checklists and materials for creative activities; and much more. You will also have opportunities to network with other Emissaries across the country, as well as acknowledgement on the USDAC website and the opportunity to be included in national coverage. Sign-up to be an Emissary from the Future>>
INVITATION TO ORGANIZATIONS – Join Dare to Imagine as a Partner Organization>>
Want to animate your membership and the mission of your organization through new creative engagement strategies? The USDAC invites your organization to #DareToImagine. Recognizing that our social, cultural, economic, and environmental crises are all intertwined, the USDAC seeks to build partnerships with the widest possible range of social justice, movement-building, and arts networks and organizations. We invite host organizations and their constituents to #DareToImagine a future in which their goals have been accomplished, and to share a customized call to action with their networks.
For more information about partnering with Dare to Imagine, please visit www.usdac.us/daretoimagine-partner or contact Kate McNeely: kate@usdac.us.