Unfunded and Unafraid: Making Protest Art in an Age of Pushback
Session Description:
In every generation, artists have responded to crisis and injustice with brave, imaginative, and unflinching creative work—songs, photographs, murals, manifestos. But in 2025, that kind of protest art feels harder to find. Many artists feel the same urgency—but face new barriers: exhaustion, isolation, self-censorship, and, increasingly, fear of losing financial support. In this interactive workshop, we’ll examine the invisible pressures silencing protest art today—including the growing risk artists face in speaking truth to power when funders, institutions, and platforms may not support that work. Participants will explore what protest looks like in their own discipline, what internal or external forces hold them back, and what it means to create work that might never get funded but still needs to exist. Through open dialogue, reflective prompts, and creative exploration, we’ll collectively reimagine what protest art can be now—and why we still make it, even when the systems around us tell us not to.
Presenter: Petula Caesar
Petula Caesar is a writer, storyteller, and multidisciplinary creative who believes that art and protest are often one and the same. Her work lives all over Baltimore—in articles written for the former City Paper, The Afro-American Newspapers, and Baltimore Magazine; in performances at Artscape, Arts Lab, and Stoop Storytelling; in panel discussions at the Baltimore Book Festival; and in community dialogues at the Enoch Pratt Free Library. She is the author of She’s Such A Bright Girl, a memoir that explores a conflict-filled upbringing shaped by colorism, which earned an Honorable Mention in the North Street Book Prize for creative nonfiction. Her recent written work for the stage includes Shades of Honor (Rapid Lemon Productions, 2024), Baltimore: In Recovery (Charm City Fringe Festival, 2024), and In A Black Woman’s Kitchen (Two Strikes Theatre Collective, 2025). As Director of Community Engagement for the Baltimore Rock Opera Society, she led efforts to feature more Black creatives onstage—resulting in some of the organization’s most impactful and inclusive programming. In addition to her creative life, Petula holds a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) certification, reflecting over 15 years of experience in fundraising, grant writing, and nonprofit strategy. She has worked with grassroots organizations, large institutions, and small arts collectives—helping them secure public and private funding, shape narratives that resonate, and build relationships with funders who are aligned with bold, justice-centered work.
Date, Time, and Location
Wednesday, June 18th
Breakout Session 4: 10:45 – 11:45 AM
Room: CPA 105 ACE