As Sozo Artists Turns Five, A New Company Launches, Aimed at Hacking Consciousness and Institutional Culture
In October 2018, in a small, yellow meeting room on the Yale University campus, diverse delegates from across the University and greater New Haven communities came together for a one-day summit dedicated to building a strong foundation for the future of Yale’s Schwarzman Center, slated to open in Fall 2020. The forward-looking summit was led by a team of creative professionals employing artistic engagement practices with the intent to bring the institution forward into an inclusive, collaborative future.
The paradigm-shifting approach designed by Sozo Vision and led by Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Rika Iino utilizes novel creative mindshare methodology designed for crafting visionary approaches for teams and organizations. This approach injects artistry into dialogues and workshops, led by creative professionals in a range of disciplines including dance, music, spoken word and visual art.
“Institutions today need relationships with their audiences that are built on more than just subscriptions,” Garth Ross, Executive Director, Yale Schwarzman Center said. “Sozo Vision is meeting this need by supporting artists who redefine how cultural organizations interact with the public. Sozo Vision goes beyond entertainment, inspiring communities and setting the stage for change.”
Sozo Vision is a natural outgrowth of what has already been crafted by Sozo Artists. As a longtime paragon of perspective-changing art, Sozo Artists has an established international track record of sparking passion and action for pressing social and global conversations. An arbiter of the transformative power of creativity, imagination, and collaboration, Sozo’s success is steeped in the knowledge that the unexpected melding of disciplines begets new perspectives — and thus deeper curiosity, understanding and ultimately empathy and compassion.
“Say you blend rock climbing with dance; street dance with classical music; artificial intelligence with jazz music; Ancient Hebrew with hip-hop; spoken word with ballet. It’s all about one world having a conversation with another. Dissolving boundaries, gracefully and with the utmost care, is at the heart of everything we do, whether it’s in a concert hall, a large public space, or a conference room,” says Rika Iino, Founder of Sozo Artists, Inc. and Chief Operating Officer for the newly formed entity Sozo Vision.
Sozo Vision’s objective is to empower organizations to hack consciousness and culture through curated convenings and dynamic interactive program design. The result: stabilization, transformation, and growth that begins with individuals and small teams, feeding forward and shifting conversations on a deep organizational level.
“Art and artists provide a unique access point for organizations, teams and individuals to uncover their truest voice while fostering a collaborative environment where authentic group vision can emerge,” says Iino. “Organizations and leaders can’t afford to ignore social conditions regardless of the industry, but infusing social consciousness into an organizational mission or program is not just an HR or leadership training question. And it’s certainly not just another viral hashtag. It is a fundamental cultural inquiry, and we believe that, as culture makers, artists and arts practitioners provide the key to opening up this dialogue in a refreshing, effective, and vibrant way.”
Current visioning organizations working in partnership with Sozo Vision include:
- Yale University’s Schwarzman Center
Mapping and executing on building a collaborative and inclusive community ahead of the center’s grand opening, Fall 2020. - Visit Oakland
Curation for culture with an eye to the arts’ role in a city experiencing rapid growth and gentrification. - A Fortune 100 technology company (anonymous)
Curation of cultural events to bolster diversity and mission-driven dialogue across the organization. - Apollo Theater
Design and facilitation of a think tank ahead of the launch of a new artist residency program.
Alongside these partners, Sozo Vision champions the role of artists as systemic disruptors and conduits of imagination, inspiration, and action. “We are excited to collaborate with brands, cultural institutions, municipalities, organizations and corporations who are launching new programs or updating existing ones. We will work with them to facilitate retreats, summits and other convenings, and guide program design. Our unique creative mindshare process empowers our partners to hone in on their authenticity — setting the foundation from which powerful stories, elevated impact, and quantifiable results are built,” says artist, TED Global Fellow, and Sozo Vision’s Chief Visioning Officer Marc Bamuthi Joseph.
Joseph’s rich understanding of the arts’ role in shaping social landscape has made him a respected leader on the interplay and intersections between social issues and cultural identity, including race, gender, and class. “Our social fabric is held together by cultural memory, community aspiration, and democratic institutions that foster American promise. Many of these institutions: civic, artistic, tech-based, and academic, weren’t always built with the most inclusive and compassionate strategies in mind. Sozo Vision is a foundation shifter for any institution that’s ready to move culturally forward with wider social accountability and smarter community engagement practices. Just as I write, or dance, or make music, so too is organizational theory an integral part of my creative life as an artist.”
Sozo Vision’s tailored program offerings span a multitude of disciplines and modalities. A sampling of previous work by Sozo’s diverse network of artists includes: a team building program for global design studio IDEO by vertical dance company BANDALOOP; a workshop on diversity and inclusion for United Healthcare and Columbia Business School designed and led by composer/educator Daniel Bernard Roumain; a storytelling workshop led by spoken word artist and Tony Award-winning writer Lemon Andersen for SoulCycle; Women Teach Men workshops with writer/activist Michael Hebb; and program design with Coca Cola and Carnegie Hall led by Marc Bamuthi Joseph.
Bring Sozo Vision to your organization — sign up for communications with us here.
Warm thanks to Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Garth Ross, Rika Iino, Joanna Bowzer, and Melissa Higgins for their significant contributions to this piece.
