Teyah Parent, features editor

On Friday, Sept. 4, Augsburg University’s Schwartz School of the Arts—which brings together narrative, performing and visual arts—opened its first-ever First Friday Lecture series with a discussion centered on one question: What does it mean to be an artist in tumultuous times? The event featured Leon Wang, an architect, artist, educator and advocate whose work spans more than two decades. Wang is also the founder of Firebird Design and the Creativity Center for Learning and Leadership.

Growing up in Taiwan during a period of authoritarian rule and martial law, Wang saw the effects of political repression firsthand. His father was a political prisoner, and Wang described living through difficult years that eventually led toward Taiwan’s transition to democracy. Those experiences shaped his understanding of the relationship between humanity, protest and creative action. For Wang, creativity is not limited to a traditional canvas or a particular artistic discipline. Art can exist through action, participation and simply showing up. He referenced art forms such as street theater and emphasized that impactful creative work does not always need to be monumental.

“Everyone has the potential for creativity” was one of the central ideas explored throughout the lecture, and with creativity comes the potential for hope. 

Wang works with students ranging from elementary school to college. He prefers to keep young people at the center of the creative process. The challenge, he suggested, is finding the connection between an idea and its impact. His approach to teaching encourages people to use their hands and creativity to express what is in their hearts, transforming ideas into voices capable of making an impact. “If we do this right, the art can open up doors,” Wang said. “You can write your own headline.”

That idea has also appeared in Wang’s work at Augsburg. He discussed the “One Day in May” campaign project, which contributed to conversations surrounding race and ethnicity on campus and preceded the establishment of Augsburg’s Critical Race and Ethnicity Studies major in 2021. The project served as an example of creativity moving beyond artistic expression and into community action and institutional change.

As the First Friday Lecture series continues, Art at the Edge of Hope established creativity as more than a finished product. For Augsburg’s Schwartz School of the Arts, the semester’s opening lecture offered a challenge to artists and students alike: in tumultuous times, creativity may not solve every problem, but it can create connection, demand dignity and help communities imagine something different. Creativity is innate: people create because they want to thrive. The act of showing up, participating and making one’s voice heard can in itself become a creative expression. The next First Friday Lecture will take place on Oct. 2 at 12:20 p.m. in Sateren Auditorium.