Art As A Weapon & Way Through

Art is not an accessory to movement– it propels the movement forward and grows it. A conversation with Third Wave Fund’s first artist-in-residence, Chi Nwosu and Monica Trinidad — our Director of Communications —  this episode explores how cultural work shapes political possibility. From storytelling to visual practice, we examine why all art is political, how artists expand what we can imagine, and why resourcing cultural work and radical imagining  is essential to building liberated futures.

Chi Nwosu is a Black, nonbinary, queer artist whose work imagines a world nourished by love, curiosity, play, and mutuality. Working primarily in digital illustration, traditional painting, and writing, Chi’s practice moves with spirit and honors the wisdom of feeling. Their practice is rooted in kinship with the more-than-human world and shaped by our living histories of international resistance. Their work invites us to deepen our interconnections, to remember our shared power, and to honor the inherent divinity of all of life.

Monica Trinidad (she/they) is a queer, Latine visual artist and creative strategist. A lifelong Chicagoan, Monica has created zines, graphics, mixed media posters, communication strategies and plans highlighting youth-led, intergenerational, and intersectional grassroots organizing work in Chicago and nationally. They are currently the Director of Communications at Third Wave Fund.

Her creative practice invites individuals to reimagine and build a better and more just world centered around experimentation, interdependence, abundance over scarcity, process over product, and following the guidance and leadership of directly-impacted communities.