Wyatt Closs - ‘Too Serious For Artsy People, Too Artsy For Political People’

For Episode 100, I am joined by an old friend of mine Wyatt Closs. 

Wyatt Closs is Senior Vice President of Creative & Cultural Strategies for Spitfire, based in Los Angeles. He has spent the last 20 years on explorations of art and design for social change, progressive politics, creative advocacy, writing and organizing for social justice. He is considered an early practitioner in a field now known as cultural organizing or culture change work.

Most recently, Wyatt served as the creative force behind DearFrontline.com, an interactive property where art honors essential workers; the Strike for Black Lives Murals series in eight cities in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd; and Creative Resilience, a large-scale pop-up art show and community action space about economic justice.

In 2013, he founded and served as the creative director of his company, Big Bowl of Ideas, which focused exclusively on the intersection of creativity, arts, politics, digital strategies, and social justice.

Prior to his culture for social impact work, Wyatt was a political consultant and strategist for 25 campaigns across the country, including those of the DCCC, NARAL’s first independent expenditure campaign, and an independent expenditure campaign for Kamala Harris for California attorney general. He worked for SEIU (Service Employees International Union) and its locals, wearing a number of hats – civil and human rights director, community partnerships director, government affairs director, and public affairs director.