Somerville resident Eryn Johnson, Executive Director of the Community Art Center and an ArtCorps Alumnae, has been named Creative Activist of 2012. 

The Creative Activist Awards are part of ArtCorps’ ongoing efforts to promote art as a tool for social change around the globe. Eryn Johnson will receive this unique award along with Clara Wainwright, Textile Artist and Founding Mother of First Night. These two innovative leaders are being recognized for using the arts to advance social change and build stronger communities in Boston and beyond.

Eryn Johnson, Developing the Next Generation of Creative Activists

Eryn Johnson’s belief in the power of youth to change the world is evidenced by her commitment to the personal development of each child and teen she works with. Eryn is Executive Director of the Community Art Center in Cambridge, providing arts-based learning and leadership programs for children and youth with limited resources so that they can have a positive impact on their communities. Community engagement, social justice, respect, creativity, imagination, critical thinking, media literacy, team building and public speaking are some of the skills and knowledge developed in the art classrooms at the Community Art Center. The Center is renowned for the “Do It Your Damn Self!!” National Youth Film Festival, the longest-running youth-curated film festival in the country.

Previously as Director of Education at the Citi Performing Arts Center (formerly The Wang Center for the Performing Arts), Eryn designed initiatives such as Dance Across The City, Celebrate Shakespeare and City Spotlights to over 10,000 youth and families each year. One of the first ArtCorps Artists, she began her career as an arts-based facilitator using forum theater and puppetry to promote gender equality and girls' leadership in classrooms in Guatemala.

A respected leader in the emerging field of art for social change, Eryn has presented on arts and youth activism for the New England Women’s Studies Association Conference and Tufts University, and is a consultant in youth development for The Medical Foundation. She received her Bachelor of Arts with High Honors in Theater from Oberlin College and her Masters in Performance Studies from New York University.

The Creative Activist Awards will be presented on September 20, 2012 at Raising Spirits: ArtCorps' Annual Fiesta (//http://artcorp.org/raisingspirits) at the Willowdale Estate in Topsfield, MA.