Artivism in Action: Building Cross Sector Power Through The Arts

Art can do more than inspire — it can bring people together, build momentum, and influence change. This incubator is for attendees ready to turn creative practice into sustained civic engagement and policy influence. Participants will learn how successful movements align storytelling, values, infrastructure, and strategy to build public will and collective power. Through real-world case studies and collaborative exercises, attendees will gain practical tools to embed art into long-term advocacy, strengthen cross-sector relationships, and mobilize action with purpose. Together, the group will build a practical roadmap to extend collaboration beyond the incubator, anchored by intentional follow-up moments. This incubator is designed to extend beyond AFTACON, with participants creating a shared roadmap for continued collaboration, including structured follow-up touchpoints. Please meet in Alvarado Ballroom at 10:15am for departure.

Biographies

Carrie Tillis (Americans for the Arts, Artist in Residence)
Born in Nashville, TN to country music legend, Mel Tillis, and prolific visual artist, Doris Tillis, Carrie Tillis found an early passion in making art alongside her mother, but her first professional steps would be on the stage in the theater. Carrie is proud to say she is now 30 years into a career as an actor on the stage in musicals and plays, television and film, and has even sung with symphonies and big bands all over the world.

After the pandemic, it seemed an opportunity to return to visual art. Then, a timely introduction to Nina Ozlu Tunceli set a course in motion to add Arts Advocate to Carrie's lifelong resume. The last three years have been devoted to the task of reminding our representatives from every state in the nation, Why The Arts Matter. In a project with that title, Carrie paints tapestries of many different artistic mediums, stories born from a culture and place, and then presents them as a reminder that art is not periphery, but indeed a pillar of community, necessary and beautiful.

Carrie is inspired by the goodness that is the people and their art and hopes to capture this spirit in each painting she presents. Carrie looks forward to seeing how this inspiration will continue to reverberate in support of the arts and artists everywhere.

Nina Ozlu Tunceli (Chief Counsel of Government and Public Affairs, Americans for the Arts; Executive Director, Arts Action Fund)
For 30 years, Nina has served as the chief policy, advocacy, and political strategist for both organizations, representing the nation’s 4,000 local arts agencies and mobilizing more than 420,000+ arts activist members in advancing the arts in America.

In 2009, she spearheaded the very successful “Arts = Jobs” advocacy campaign that strategically secured $50 million of federal support for more than 7,000 arts jobs and millions of dollars more for arts infrastructure projects within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Nina recently completed ArtsVote2016, culminating with high profile arts policy events at both the Republican National Convention in Cleveland and the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.

She is a graduate of The George Washington University with a B.A. in French Literature, and of The University of Richmond School of Law with a J.D. She is a member of the Virginia State Bar.

Lolan Sevilla (Director of Organizing, National Arts Policy Alliance)
Spearheading NAPA's organizing and leadership training efforts, Lolan brings expertise as a cultural worker and organizer whose practice is rooted in community, study, and sustained movement work. Lolan’s movement lineage includes Funders for Justice, the NYC Anti-Violence Project, CAAAV: Organizing Asian Communities, Kreatibo Artist Collective, GABRIELA NY, and the Audre Lorde Project - where they honed approaches to coalition building, narrative strategy, and embodied safety & security. 

Whether facilitating multiracial, cross-class solidarity or advising on program design and crisis infrastructure, Lolan brings rigor, warmth, and a deep commitment to liberation. A member of the National Writers Union, Lolan co-edited Walang Hiya: Literature Taking Risks Towards Liberatory Practice, and co-authored Speak Up About It: Community Actions to Reduce the Impact of TGNC Discrimination in the Workplace. Lolan also serves as a newly elected Trustee of Forbes Library.

Andrew Wood (San Francisco International Arts Festival)
Andrew is an arts presenter and administrator with over 30 years’ experience working in San Francisco. In addition to founding the Festival, he has also worked at presenting organizations San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival, Life on the Water and ODC Theater. Andrew was instrumental in the Mission District’s 500 years of resistance procession, The Chasky. As an activist he was one of the founders of the Mission Anti-Displacement Coalition and in 2025 helped initiate The People vs. Project 2025 as a national organizing campaign designed to connect, amplify, and mobilize artists and cultural workers that are confronting — or are ready to confront — the Trump administration and Project 2025, a coordinated authoritarian agenda threatening democracy, civil rights, and cultural freedom in the United States.