I have known a number of political activists and many of them are artists–painters, writers, filmmakers, actors, sculptors, graphic designers. This had me thinking about why artists make such good political activists.

One of the reasons I think is that artists make such good political activists is because they understand how to make something out of “just an idea.”

It takes a certain amount of audacity to be an artist, to actually take time and resources to make your idea concrete. This is also true of political activists.

Artists are persistent; it takes a willingness not to give up, against all odds, a trait absolutely necessary for people who want political things to happen.

Artists also can be non-conformists. Political activist go against the grain and this often is part of an artist’s personality.

Being a political activist has been my “hobby” for the last 6 years. I’ve started a local political blog. I’m interested to see if blogging is as successful for talking about local political issues as it is for talking about art.