, the first collection of contributions to 

, centers artists in their own voices to spotlight the wisdom of our creative community. Anchored by a set of twelve questions created by artist Chloë Bass to gain insight into practitioners’ work and person, 

 gathers responses, reflections, and expertise from a range of contributors. Exploring the knowledge passed through creative lineages and the ways socially engaged practice proliferates inside and outside of institutions, 

 provides a window into ongoing conversations between friends and mentors.

This inaugural issue emerges from a period of substantial restructuring and transformation for A Blade of Grass (aBoG). In 2021, aBoG adopted a new governance model that put the leadership of our organization in the hands of practitioners with a deep commitment to socially engaged art. This new board of directors embarked on a fieldwide research project in partnership with the Center for Artistic Activism (C4AA). This study brought together artists, practitioners, and community partners to explore key questions about what socially engaged artists need, and what organizational models can most sustainably meet those needs. Convening socially engaged practitioners and their supporters in research gatherings, virtual sessions, and one-on-one interviews was a joyful process and a deeply educational one. Over 150 participants generously responded to aBoG’s research questions and prompts, offering an expansive breadth of perspectives.

Inspired by this process, our inaugural issue gathers knowledge in another way—diving deeper into intimate conversation between practitioners and exploring new forms to share their wisdom and experience. Under conditions where we are presented with limited and insufficient options, socially engaged artists demonstrate another way—another way to exercise creative skills, another way to be in community, and another way to shape the world around us. They create strategies and interventions that make society more just, kind, safe, and free.

This editorial platform and the direction for 

 was created in collaboration with curator and writer Risa Puleo, who served as an advisor and thought partner to the organization this year. Risa’s profound history of curating, commissioning, and writing about the work of socially engaged artists consistently demonstrates other ways of responding to the urgent conditions of the moment. This issue was overseen by aBoG Program Director Lee Heinemann with support from Executive Director Lu Zhang and Programs and Operations Manager Ixtzel Reynoso. ABoG’s board is ashley sparks, Brett Cook, Diya Vij, Gregory Sale, Michael Premo, and Michael Quattrone. Rebekah Kirkman copyedited these contributions and Team designed the identity and interface for 

. We send our heartfelt thanks to the practitioners who contributed to 

Another Way