This organization has merged into the Center for Cultural Power. For information on its activities after the merger, see that profile.

CultureStrike is a left-of-center arts-based advocacy project of Citizen Engagement Lab Education Fund.¹ CultureStrike describes itself as a network led by “migrant artists” that seeks to disrupt the art world, which they claim is dominated by white men.² It describes artwork as “cultural strategies” designed to influence both average citizens and politicians to adopt their social and political views.³

CultureStrike merged with the Citizen Engagement Lab Education Fund to form the Center for Cultural Power in 2019.⁴ CultureStrike was briefly a project of NEO Philanthropy.⁵

Background

CultureStrike was founded in 2011 and worked closely with Citizen Engagement Lab Education Fund before merging with it in 2019 to form the Center for Cultural Power.⁶ It is not clear if they were formally different organizations, however, for CultureStrike and CEL Education Fund shared an address and CultureStrike does not appear to have filed independent tax returns.^{7 8 9}

CultureStrike claims to have connected over 200 artists to one another, providing them with funding and places where they can display their art.¹⁰

Activities

CultureStrike manages literary projects such as CultureStrike Magazine, Undocu Writing, and Climate Literary Fellowship in which it publishes writers that combine left-wing political advocacy with literature.¹¹

It also takes on visual art projects that serve as political campaigns. For example, one recent project used images of butterflies as symbols for human migration “as an approachable way to reimagine borders as permeable rather than militarized.” Recording artist Pharell Williams popularized the campaign, bringing attention to the group.¹²

Funding

CultureStrike’s funders include 11th Hour (a show on MSNBC hosted by Brian Williams), Akonadi Foundation, The California Endowment, Compton Foundation, Ford Foundation, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Schmidt Family Foundation, and Unbound Philanthropy.¹³

Leadership

CultureStrike describes its board as a “multiracial, multicultural team of artists and activists” that work with “cultural workers and organizers” in the United States and internationally. Among the group’s directors is Andrew Hsiao, a senior editor at Verso Books, the largest publisher of Marxist literature and critical theory in the English-speaking world.¹⁴

1. “Contact Us.” CultureStrike. February 20, 2018. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://www.culturestrike.org/contact-us.
2. “How We Work.” CultureStrike. February 20, 2018. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://www.culturestrike.org/how-we-work.
3. “Board of Directors.” CultureStrike. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://www.culturestrike.org/board.
4. “The Center for Cultural Power.” Idealist. Accessed May 29, 2019. https://www.idealist.org/en/nonprofit/c24ec479f4694944826b61bcac7c30c9-the-center-for-cultural-power-oakland.
5. “Donate (archived page).” CultureStrike (via Web Archive). Archived December 14, 2017. Accessed May 17, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20171214192823/https://culturestrike.org/donate
6. “Partners.” CultureStrike. February 20, 2018. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://www.culturestrike.org/partners.
7. “CultureStrike.” Facebook. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://www.facebook.com/pg/CultureStrike/about/?ref=page_internal.
8. “Contact Us.” CultureStrike. February 20, 2018. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://www.culturestrike.org/contact-us.
9. Data from IRS: CultureStrike. https://apps.irs.gov
10. “About.” CultureStrike. February 20, 2018. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://www.culturestrike.org/about.
11. “How We Work.” CultureStrike. February 20, 2018. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://www.culturestrike.org/how-we-work.
12. “Migration Is Beautiful.” CultureStrike. July 29, 2017. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://www.culturestrike.org/project/migration-is-beautiful.
13. “Partners.” CultureStrike. February 20, 2018. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://www.culturestrike.org/partners.
14. “Board of Directors.” CultureStrike. Accessed June 10, 2019. https://www.culturestrike.org/board.