The Self-Reliance Project began as a daily essay about what it means to be a maker during a crisis—to think through making, to know yourself better through the process of producing something—and to consider that this kind of return to self-knowledge might just be the entire point. Inspired by the 1841 essay by the American writer Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote with astonishing clarity about the perils of conformity and consistency, these essays look at new ways of framing studio practice as an act of creative independence.
But the essays are just the starting point for a new kind of dialogue—us with you, and you with yourself—because even and especially in a year such as this one, we know that at the core of all creative enterprise lies a singular, beating heart. What does it mean,
right now, to be self-reliant—to trust your voice, heed your mind, and connect to your own sense of what really matters?
De Nichols is an arts-based organizer, social impact designer, serial entrepreneur, and keynote lecturer, who has mobilized changemakers nationwide to develop creative approaches to the social, civic, and racial justice issues that matter most within communities.
Jessica Helfand, a founding editor of Design Observer, is an award-winning graphic designer and writer. A former contributing editor and columnist for Print, Eye and Communications Arts magazine, she is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale and a recent laureate of the Art Director’s Hall of Fame. Jessica received both her BA and MFA from Yale University where she has taught since 1994. In 2013, she won the AIGA medal.
De Andrea Nichols is a social practice artist and lecturer who helps changemakers nationwide strategize creative approaches to issues that matter most to them and their communities. She was recently appointed as director of Civic Creatives, a multi-disciplinary social design studio based in St. Louis, MO, that produces interactive events, tools, and services to foster discovery, creation, and actualization of community-driven civic solutions. She additionally serves as a Board of Directors member for Forward through Ferguson and chairs the Board of Directors for Creative Reaction Lab, two non-profits tackling racial inequity through social policy and creative practice. She is a 2016 Visionary Award recipient for her creative community impact.