BASIS OF UNITY

The Radical Design School is a collective of subversive cultural workers who are committed to making art and design accessible to all. We see cultural production as a powerful and necessary part of organizing for transformative social justice.

We are interested in building relationships among and between grassroots communities in Toronto, where we can come together to skillshare, dream and collectively make art. We operate outside of the boundaries of mainstream art and design institutions, which are exclusionary and in many ways actively advance oppression. As the Radical Design School, we seek to explore new visions, models and possibilities for our movements.

We prioritize process; we’re not just making art for art’s sake. We believe good process is the fertile soil in which the strongest ideas and learning arise. It’s complex, sometimes a little messy but very important. In this way, we strive to organize strategically instead of in a reactionary manner. We understand culture as not just a tool to wield, but a unique terrain for resistance and resilience for our communities.

As the Radical Design School, we aim to:

• Cultivate a community of skill-sharing and collaboration that supports our allies in grassroots social movements
• Build on our existing relationships in an intentional way with queer, trans, people of colour, Indigenous and otherwise marginalized communities that have been historically excluded from mainstream art and design institutions
• Challenge traditional notions of art and design that are informed by capitalism by supporting community-based artistic resistance that is exciting and effective
• Adapt art and design processes and practices to creatively challenge and undermine intersecting systems of oppression
• Engage in a process of dialogue, self-reflection and community feedback in order to recognize the complexities of the communities with whom we work