Marquis Victor | Elevated Thought: i am art. i am change
You know when you meet someone and you can feel a quick connection? That’s what I felt when I first met Marquis Victor, the founding Executive Director of Elevated Thought (ET) based in Lawrence, MA. ET helps youth and communities to understand art's liberating power and how to use art to make their voices heard.
We met in December of 2019 at an event (remember those?) sponsored by the Social Innovation Forum announcing their 2020 Cohort of SIF Innovators of which ET was one of eight non-profits selected in a highly competitive process. As a consultant to SIF through Creative Re/Frame, over the next six months I had the pleasure of working alongside Marquis coaching him through a process with the main deliverable being a riveting talk he gave (over Zoom) at the SIF Showcase of Innovators in May 2020. I wrote about the coaching process Creative Re/Frame uses with our long time client SIF for their blog if you are interested.
I had a chance to check in with Marquis this summer to hear how Covid, combined with George Floyd’s murder and BLM has impacted the work of ET, an organization designed to address systemic racism and injustice through art. ET was made for this moment.
“Over the summer the process of adjusting our programming due to Covid has evolved. And certainly the content of our programming with George Floyds murder has found a home as well with the work we do. Amaryllis Lopez, who came up through ET and just graduated from college, joined the staff as our first Program Director in June. She quickly designed and implemented a coloring book project designed by ET youth artists and distributed them in shops throughout the community where wifi isn’t a given and many people live in closely packed shared accommodations. As the summer months unfolded, we began our yearly Beautification program; outdoor public art projects where youth artists are in masks, making some money and expanding awareness of art’s power. And now we are launching a Creative Resistance Institute where youth will be introduced to the concepts of organizing and arts role in community building. This is a natural extension of our work and incredibly timely.“
The content of the work ET produces is created by their young participants and is tied directly to the issues that they find inspiring, infuriating and sometimes both.
When I asked Marquis where he is going for inspiration these days he said, “my days revolve around creating, making up songs and adventures with my daughter, vision building with my partner and reading as much as I possibly can.”
Marquis never ceases to inspire the young people in his life, his staff or his community with his thoughtful, inspirational and authentic approach to education and social justice. His commitment to creating welcoming environments for young people to explore their artistic talents and integrate their creative voices to help build a more just society is crucial and inspiring.
Thank you Marquis for doing what you do.
