SACLAW: The Social Actions Community Leadership Arts Workshop
Art as a Catalyst for Greater Community Engagement
Teaching Artist:
Abner Torres Delina Jr. is a Filipino artivist, storyteller, performance
artist, educator and founder of multi-arts collective, BLACK CANVAS.
- Location: Philippines
- Teaching Artist: Abner Torres Delina, Jr.
- Years Active: 2022-2024
- Number of People Impacted: 260
- Art Forms: Performance, Theatre, Visual Arts
Local Issue Addressed
The Philippines is especially vulnerable to the effects of climate change, such as the extreme weather events that cause flooding and landslides.
Cadiz City, hometown of Abner Torres Delina Jr., is a strategic port in the region of Visayas that has directly experienced natural disasters made worse
by a warming planet.
In 2013, the super typhoon, Haiyan, was one of the deadliest typhoons on record in the Philippines, killing 6,300 in the country alone. Thousands of houses and crops were destroyed, devastating the livelihoods of farmers and fishermen in the city.
Project Overview
To combat these environmental challenges, Delina designed Social Actions Community Leadership Arts Workshop (SACLAW). This three-day arts and climate education camp for youth leaders gathered exceptional Filipino artist-leaders, educators, and activists from different cities and towns of Visayas to nurture the power of arts and culturefor climate justice.
Participants used the leadership skills learned at camp to expand climate action at the grassroots level in their own communities.
Core Activities
Through collaborative visual art, music, theater, and environmental education activities, SACLAW:
• Combined art, nature, and somatic and mindful movement activities to inspire local artist-leaders to
utilize their art and leadership skills to better engage, educate, and inspire their communities to act
against climate change.
• Engaged youth artist-leaders through play-based community building activities to understand
local environmental issues, climate mitigation, and adaptation.
• Redesigned existing educational resources for future climate collaborations.
• Offered opportunities for climate leaders to engage communities and fellow artists through
a SACLAW minifest.
Social Impact Outcomes
Impact was measured using a two-part survey given to 130 participants on the third and last day of the SACLAW Camp in 2023.
After participating in SACLAW, evidence showed participants were significantly more motivated to participate in climate justice and climate action.
Participants:
• Fostered a competent, passionate, and diverse network of artist-leaders within the Visayas regions.
• Designed a flexible and replicable model for the SACLAW Camp that engages youth leaders, government officials, and community leaders to map ideas, identify problems, and develop local climate solutions.
• Developed an easy to follow and shareable SACLAW toolkit.
• Showcased the work in a mini multi-arts festival, the Hearth Jam Showcase, which engaged women and youth from surrounding communities.
Skills and Competencies Measured
- Climate awareness and education
- Tools for community leadership
- Changing attitudes and actions towards an intersectional lens
Data Collection Methods
- Photo and video documentation
- Video Interviews
- Survey evaluation and questionnaires
- Observations