L.A. Louver artist Ben Jackel is participating in a unique series of group exhibitions abroad. These exhibitions are curated by Dr. George Rivera for the art collective Artnauts. Dr. Rivera is one of Jackel’s mentors from the University of Boulder, Colorado and co-founder of Artnauts along with Garrison Roots in 1998. The collective aims to address “global issues while connecting artists from around the world to participate in activist inspired art.“

Jackel credits Dr. George Rivera with influencing him as a young artist noting… 

“When he was my professor at college in Boulder, he really transformed my paradigm of what being an artist means and what we can all do as individuals.”

 Below is an image from a recent Artnauts Budapest project in which the participating artists (including Jackel) answered the question…

“A better world is possible if we.” See portion of translation below

poster from exhibition: 

Toward a Better Society: Artnauts Comments from the United States, Eotvos Lorad University, Budapest, Hungary

Valerie R. Albicker. A better world is possible if we practice restraint, compassion and forgiveness.

Bela Amade. A better world is possible if we recognize that no one is better than the other.

Ben Jackel. A better world is possible if we realize that we aren’t the center of it.

Jaime Carrejo. A better world is possible if we listen to one another.

Andrew Connelly. A better world is possible if we learn to live with compassion and gratitude.

Rebecca DiDomenico. A better world is possible if we transform apathy into activism and change through art.

Dj Lu. A better world is possible if we boycott currency.

Suzanne Faris. A better world is possible if we looked harder for the truth.

Donald Fodness. A better world is possible if we garden.