Young & Emerging Leaders Forum Spotlight: Raz Salvarita

YELF is jointly hosted by Creative Generation (CG) and the International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC) to bring together and recognize young practitioners from across the field fostering a collaborative learning environment based in critical reflection intended to interrogate, mutually share and learn, and radically reimagine future possibilities for one’s work.

Razcel Jan Salvarita is a TEDx Talk speaker on the topic “Effecting Environmental Consciousness through Art” where he encapsulated his environmental art actions for more than two decades as a creative artivist and community-based arts organizer. During this pandemic year, he pursued a strong commitment to creative recovery programmes including a transformative healing art experience for women farm workers who were awakened to their artistic skills; he also worked on a public art installation project focused on climate change and the impacts in the local farm community through his grant from ITAC Impact: Climate. He is a multi-disciplinary artist with primary practice on visual and performance art; and identifies his role as an “activator, facilitator, and educator”. He believes in the transformative power of the arts as a centering place for healing, recovery, and renewal of courage.

How do you personally define leadership?

Leadership is a vessel that moves and holds space, growth, and learning along its path and directing to a vision that serves a purpose of enhanced way of living and practices with a desired capability for sustainability.

What is a driving question you have?

How can we multiply activators, facilitators, and educators for socially-engaged, community collaborations?

What titles/terms do you like to use to describe your work?

Creative Activist, Teaching Artist, Community Arts Organizer, Art Exhibit Pollinator

What is something (in your own work) you are particularly proud of and why?

My ability as an "activator, facilitator, and educator" - inter-linking roles that allow me to craft my intentions and structure programs from these seedbed... I'm proud to gain these abilities because it moves my level and sense of meaning and purpose for my soul work.

What makes you excited to work at the intersection of the fields of Arts, Cultural & Education?

It's the intermix of humanity's diversity that excites me to see in the intersection within these fields. Oftentimes, amazing friends and collaborators sprout from these happenings and it's truly valuable to grow in this field.

What is one change you would like to see made in our field?

Placement of creative imaginals in all critical institutional bodies - in health, policy, education, economic systems. The need for these beings in such groups mean that there is a medium that can help foresee visions while also crafting practical and creative approaches to problems that mostly need a compassionate care and attitude towards.

If you had a superpower, what would it be and why?

The superpower to create creative and transformative portals for people to get into and awaken to their highest creative potential.