Can artists make the world a better place? “We have seen over and over again that the existing structures and hierarchies aren't working, the models aren't working,” said Megha Ralapati, the director of the fellowships program at CEC ArtsLink, “and artists are uniquely trained and experienced to dismantle, to understand them from a new angle – a new vantage point – to bring nuance, to bring a more 360 degree perspective that isn't binary and isn't reductionist.”“That's really speaking to the true transformative nature of art,” she added.Every year, Ralapati’s organization picks a city to host an international assembly of artists, activists and thinkers to share perspectives on how artists can help build a better world. This year’s ArtsLink Assembly is in Chicago’s Woodlawn neighborhood on Thursday and Friday.In today’s episode, Ralapati explains how bringing people together from disparate parts of the world helps foster shared humanity. We also hear from one of the local artists presenting at the assembly, Patricia Nguyen, founder of Axis Lab in Uptown.]]>