Mike Sonksen Discusses Vigilant Love, Public Art, and Marginalized Histories for KCET

Interdisciplinary Studies faculty and First Year Experience program coordinator Mike Sonksen was featured on-air for KCET’s radio show, “SoCal Update” to discuss his article about the group “Vigilant Love.” As Sonksen explains, “Vigilant Love is an inter-spiritual and multi-generational advocacy group of artists, activists, healers, and writers who come together to dismantle systemic Islamophobia, work towards new futures of shared health and safety, and build long-term relationships among Muslim and Japanese American young people. Rooted in deep cross-cultural friendships, the Vigilant Love team perennially presents a model for reciprocal solidarity between groups through the arts.” Listen to the radio interview and read the article here.

Professor Sonksen is a regular contributor to KCET’s Artbound culture column. In a recent article, he reviews 12 Southern California public art projects that explore race and marginalized histories. This type of artistic expression, he explains, can “play a significant role presenting an alternative and more equitable history.” Sonksen points out how public art like murals are “new monuments rooted in inclusivity that can help right the wrongs of history.” Woodbury University professor Dr. Amy Converse concurs. “Many monuments are intentionally constructed as incarnations of power,” she writes in the article, “and in highlighting the history of the powerful, there are other histories of the marginalized and disenfranchised that get overlooked or forgotten.” Converse is part of a team that will bring public art projects to Woodbury’s campus.

Sonksen’s article can also serve as a driving guide to some of the city’s important public art sites.  You can read it here.

Last Updated on October 11, 2021.