Reflecting on what we’ve learned from Great Leap, What Would an HIV Doula Do?, and Wild Path Collective |
A year ago, we announced In Fellowship, a program that gathers a working group of practitioners, collectives, and artist-led organizations to explore key facets and processes of socially engaged art. This pilot year aimed to support artist collectives and foster conversation and exchange around shared power. What structures have artists built for working collaboratively? How are artists operationalizing their vision and values? How can this work continue through transitions of leadership and membership? Through our time with Great Leap, What Would an HIV Doula Do? (WWHIVDD), and Wild Path Collective, we learned that:
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Artist groups have long innovated, expanded, and operationalized a variety of forms for working collectively. -
This work requires committed participation, and transitions of leadership and membership reshape the entirety of collaborative groups. -
Dedicating time and resources to exploring how we work together improved and amplified our collaborative work. -
A Blade of Grass’s practitioner staff and board benefitted greatly from this space of exchange and solidarity with other artist groups. -
Immersing ourselves in each other’s work made our time together a much needed respite from a challenging year.
As we reflect on this pilot year, we combed through shared notes and selected some questions that continue to resonate and shape our work.
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How do we preserve histories of important work and educate folks now about what has come before? |
Archival flyer for Great Leap’s Talk Story: Musical Portraits of Asians in America, 1989 |
Today, Great Leap’s FandangObon brings multicultural and multifaith performing arts groups from across Los Angeles County together in one music and dance circle. |
How do we share the complexity of how thinking and language has changed throughout movements? |
Great Leap's Associate Artistic Director Dan Kwong leads the Manzanar Baseball Project, which is restoring and reinvigorating the baseball field at the site of the Manzanar Internment Camp. Like Dan, many of the baseball players pictured here are descendants of people detained at Manzanar. |
How do we stay grounded when adversity is overwhelming? |
An excerpt from WWHIVDD publication What Does an Uprising Doula Do? This page shows a series of questions posed to contributors: What Does a Collective Grief Doula Do? What Does a Doula Do with Anti-Black Racism? What Does a Doula Do with Burnout? What Does a Doula Do with Fear? What Does a Doula Do with Rage? What Does a Doula Do with the Construct of Time? What Does a Horny Doula Do? What Does a Hungry Doula Do? What Does an Abolitionist Doula Do? What Does an Anti-Capitalist Doula Do? |
WWHIVDD’s Practicing Inclusion, a printable fortune teller game designed by Fag Tips, which acts as both an ice breaker for gatherings and a means of community building. |
How do we bring new members into our group and the culture we’ve worked hard to cultivate? |
Over a photo taken on the 60 acre farm they steward, Wild Path Collective writes: “Our story is about how stolen people steward stolen land / Our story is about vicious cycles and the work of disrupting them / Our story is about balancing white land legacies with Black and Red land futures / This what we have learned from a five year cycle of / Seeding, Sprouting, Blooming, Wilting, Fruiting, and Composting.” |
How do our practices consider or contribute to Land Back movements? |
Participants in Wild Path Collective’s recent elderberry harvest show their berry-stained hands. |
How do we know when things should end? |
Applications for Field Funds: Accessibility & Translation close January 31, 2026 at 11:59 PM ET. |
ABoG board member Michael Premo’s film Homegrown isavailable to rent and watch at home for a limited time. Read more →
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Many ABoG friends, fellows, and collaborators will come together for Social Strategies: Practice, Reflection, Archive, a conversation introduced by Rebecca Uchill and Stephanie Smith, moderated by Beth Saunders,and include Landscapes contributor Chloë Bass, Jen de los Reyes, 2014 ABoG Fellow Pablo Helguera, Abigail Satinsky, Daniel Tucker,Landscapes guest editor Dan S. Wang,and Stephanie Smith. Read more →
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ABoG Board Member Elissa Blount Moorhead’s Perfect Memory Radio continues. Catch her show Merge every third Wednesday of the month from 8–11 PM ET. Read more →
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A Blade of Grass is supported by the generosity of our community—artists, practitioners, cultural organizers, peer organizations, foundations, and many others who believe in our mission. We deeply appreciate everyone who has contributed to sustain our work. |
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