Amazing experiences. Impacting community. Making the change you want to see in leaps and bounds. I had no idea what I was in store for when I attended the AASL Opening Session.

NPR had highlighted Nikkolas Smith back in 2020 so AASl definitely had the low down on this amazing individual WAAAAAAY before the conference. Pretty excited from the event already and realty the conference had not technically started yet, I was sure this was going to be a home run.

Nikkolas stated he started by creating clay animals, which often were recreated by the end of the week. Believe it or not his creativity and anyone’s can lead anywhere. He became an imagineer for Eleven Years with Disney – and work on HKDL (Hong Kong Disney Land) were just a start. Does Wakanda Forever, SouthSide Forever (Movie Poster Designer), Trump Super Villain, his Instagram about Robert Smalls, posters of Biden sound familiar?

If not, a powerful TedTalk related to children of Watts, Los Angeles gives you a peek into the talent and generosity, as well as foresight, applied to the talent of Nikkolas Smith which is a small slice of what we received this day- what a great way to start the day but here is the coincidental aspect I often talk about about how much is related.

Recently attending Rally, the National Land Conservation Conference on Portland Oregon, Nikkolas Smith has done what I love to do, combined the various organizations and talents into several beneficial community projects. His garden concept – in Watts. (see 5:43 minutes into this video- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyS4NNnwT-w). shows WHY and how, Environmental organizations, Artistic organizations, Humanity organizations, can all come together to create a community of treasured activities for youth, as well as all generations, IT IS ALL RELATED and connected and I have to say, more certified librarians, who specialize in connecting all these together are needed in every school, every community, every state. This is the secret ingredient of certified librarians that many people overlook and are unaware they could have – to maximize the power of their communities (school, neighborhoods, etc)..

Featured with Kyra Phillips’ Raising America (2013) it became easy to see where the term artivist came from, as well as further explained on the Tamron Hall Show.

I LOVED how Smith stated that “Weekend sketches will continue until morale improves” in the middle of so many tragic losses of back lives.

His sketch of Nina Simone is one example of how perspectives can change evertything.

“It’s an artist’s duty to reflect the time in Wildlife Conservation, Environmentalism, immigration, and mass incarceration.” Smith has and is doing this so publicly, any conversation that results from art can usually lead to positive impacts and volunteerism, which I feel is a powerful talent an artist can possess from canvas to community.

Artists can promote Juneteenth as well as sickle cell research, the AMAZING illustrations of Born on the Water, (banned in some parts of Florida), I am Ruby Bridges (also banned in many states), and That Flag (yep, also banned which BKOWS MY MIIND) tells me this,

anyone so afraid of an issue that a BANNING needs to take place, is worthy of questioning why, investigating and requesting the information to research and not ban. Period. The amazing perspectives that are maybe outside of a common point of view, is what makes people have the ability to grow, and obviously, some states care more about the politics of staying in a comfortable lane, than growing. That is a travesty the certified librarian does NOT represent nor should they ever.

I LOVE that as an artist, Nikkolas Smith sees himself as an ally to counter so much that is negative, close-minded, and wrong in the world today and is able to see constructive paths of what is right, open-minded, and spaces to grow. This is simply what the role of a library media specialist is, and being able to plug individuals into the countless paths that ca lead them to their ultimate path. Nikkolas Smith is one awesome example of this and where creativity can take you, especially when the artist become an ally.