Providence artist Jordan Seaberry is one of the city’s most recognizable painters. An assistant professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, Seaberry is also known for his political advocacy. In particular, he’s been a staunch supporter of criminal justice reform in Rhode Island.
Ocean State Media political reporter Ian Donnis sat down with Seaberry to discuss how his political work influences his artistic practice and the role artists can play in advocating for societal change.
Interview highlights
On why he became an artist
Jordan Seaberry: Being an artist is the thing I've done my whole life. My preschool teachers were worried because all I wanted to do was sculpt Play-Doh and draw pictures. It has always been the lens through which I see the world. All of my other activities, political organizing included, all stemmed from art. It's always been the central way that I understand the world and the people around me.
On the role that artists can play in political activism
Seaberry: Artists have always been involved in political movements. The problem is political organizers often involve artists right at the tail end. We always go to, essentially, beautification projects. So artists can make posters, artists can make cooler picket signs or T-shirts, but as organizers, we really struggle to think about how artists can be involved at the strategy table from the beginning.
What makes artists so special is they have spent their whole lives figuring out how to communicate with people, how to take the world in and be able to translate it back out to folks. That is such a rare, special gift: To be able to look at a blank canvas and not be scared of it, but to see opportunity and possibility. That's what organizers are craving, but way too often we involve artists only at the tail end. We have to start preparing social movements to pull artists in from the jump.
On political opposition to public support for the arts
Seaberry: Conservative governments, right-wing governments, and increasingly, authoritarian governments have every reason to be afraid of artists because artists are unafraid to tell the truth. Artists are not dazzled by spectacle and power. We are trained through our whole lives to cut through lies, to see what is actually truly inside someone or something. That's a really scary proposition for someone who wants to project power or authority or false masculinity. All of the things that build the identity of an authoritarian run totally counter to what artists are trained to do. So are they afraid of artists? Yeah, they should be.
On the importance of artists in the current political climate
Seaberry: I think it's easy for artists to feel that our practices don't have a tangible impact, but what I really want artists to understand is that authoritarianism ends through collective action, through collective non-cooperation. That can absolutely involve artists. The thing we have to do is join up with other people. I’m a painter. I would happily spend seven days a week alone in my studio, just in my little cave painting by myself, but that is not how this stuff ends.
I want artists to realize that yes, we spend a lot of time in our studio, but we also go to coffee shops; we work with galleries; we work with museums and curators. All of those relationships are opportunities for folks to build power, to spread those ideas through conversation and relationship, to build collective power together. I think it's perfectly fine if artists want to spend a chunk of time alone in the studio painting; that's what I do. But then you also have to get out and work in a group. Everything matters as long as it's together.
