Launched in November 2025, Creative Justice marks the next chapter of CURA’s work at the intersection of art, organizing, and research. The program emerges as the Public Policy Design Lab and the Artist Neighborhood Partnership Initiative sunset, carrying forward their strongest elements while creating a more focused and sustainable structure for supporting emerging artists. Creative Justice is rooted in the understanding that communities need creative power, not only technical analysis, to imagine and build different futures. Art makes research accessible, tells stories that shift public will, and mobilizes people in ways other mediums cannot. By embedding artists directly into CURA’s ongoing research and organizing partnerships, the program supports work that uplifts community voices, deepens engagement, and advances movements for equity and justice. Mentorship and co-learning remain central, with long-standing CURA-affiliated artists mentoring the cohort throughout the year.
In its pilot year, the program supports two emerging artists whose practices are grounded in participatory design, visual storytelling, illustration, and creative communication. Over the course of the year, artists participate fully in the community-based research process, contributing to project scoping, community engagement, research methods, and the creation of artistic and narrative deliverables.
Their time is divided across three connected dimensions:
Training and mentorship in community-based research and organizing
Collaboration with CURA staff and student researchers on active organizing and research partnerships
Development of a community-engaged creative project that advances a partner’s goals.
Artists are embedded within the Kris Nelson Community-Based Research cohort, participate in Neighborhoods Now! for organizing training, and conclude the year with a public exhibition that showcases their creative inquiry and partnerships. The program strengthens CURA’s ability to communicate research, supports artists as they grow their practices, and expands community partners’ capacity to use art as a tool for organizing, imagination, and action.
The next cohort will launch in Winter 2027, with the application opening in October 2026
Creative Justice artwork by Onibaba Studio.