The Visual Arts Center of New Jersey Grants Patricia Lannes the 2020 Art Changemaker Award

Each year, the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey honors someone from their community with the Art Changemaker Award, granted to those who use art as a positive force for social good. Patricia Lannes was honored to accept the 2020 Art Changemaker Award.

In selecting Patricia as this year’s award winner, the Visual Arts Center of New Jersey emphasized the power of imagination. They said, “Imagination pervades every field and is one of the most important assets that we have to face some of the steep environmental and humanitarian challenges we are facing and will continue to face on the road ahead. The work that Patricia Lannes and CALTA21 do cultivates imagination, community stewardship, and community capacity building. Using deeply collaborative porous, process-oriented methods that center on community-held authorship her work integrates diverse backgrounds of class, gender, ethnicity, and life circumstance and focuses on health and vibrancy in society.”

In accepting the award, Patricia acknowledges all those who have made her work possible:

“The recognition I am receiving today was really earned by the educators, artists, and communities that made CALTA21’s work possible. CALTA21 aims to amplify marginalized voices and to empower everyone to be part of a diverse community of thinkers and creators. I am accepting this Art Change Maker Award in the name of everyone who has been part of my professional journey, especially this New Jersey community.”

As we face the pressure and uncertainty of a global pandemic, Patricia reflects on how connected our communities truly are. This moment is an important and powerful reminder that effective solutions to community issues require a community response. CALTA21 seeks to expand our understanding of what community is and, when faced with a global problem like this pandemic, finding an effective solution will require that we embrace more inclusive definitions of community and work together to drive creativity, innovation, empathy, dialogue, and solidarity.