Leading Through Survival: Art as Public Service

Breast cancer transformed my art practice into a form of public service, revealing that leadership can emerge through acts of creative survival.

Happy and Not Submerged By Fear painting by Malaika Ross. 8.5 x 10.5 in. Mixed media on paper (2024).

Leadership isn’t about titles; it’s about speaking up when the world needs to be reminded of its collective ethical responsibility toward one another. For visual artists, creating work from personal experience transforms our practice into a powerful communal offering. When we share artwork rooted in vulnerability, we build bridges that invite others to understand and heal wounds within themselves. It’s through these public art offerings that we gradually step into leadership. When you offer your story as a form of education—for yourself and for someone else who needs to know they’re not alone—you become a leader, whether you intended to or not.

In today’s political and economic climate, more creatives whose lives have been impacted by life-altering medical diagnoses are stepping into leadership roles within their communities. Having had to advocate for themselves, often in isolation, they begin to develop roadmaps to help others navigate similar terrain. We don’t seek leadership, but we learn how to tell the truth through our art, to share our stories, and to model alternate paths forward. Our very survival depends on it.