In late 2014, Interactivity Foundation Fellow Natalie Hopkinson signed a publishing contract with The New Press, the well-regarded nonprofit publisher (tagline: Publishing in the Public Interest), for a book about art and social change. After reading her IF project, The Future of the Arts & Society, a New Press editor approached Hopkinson about developing a book-length treatment of the subject. The book builds on months of conversations with the artists and lay people who were panelists for the IF project, as well as responses from hundreds of people who participated in subsequent Arts & Society discussion forums sponsored by IF.

The working title is “POP-UP: Seven artists, seven policies, seven inspirations for the future of art.” Through profiles and conversations with artists/change-makers around the world, the book will illustrate how artists are navigating this unique moment in history. Globalization, technology and inequality are upending the economics of being an artist—and complicating the work artists must do to push society forward.

“Many of the answers to how to build a robust, inclusive creative sector lie in public policy—but not all of them,” said Hopkinson, whose previous books include Go-Go Live (Duke University Press) and Deconstructing Tyrone (Cleis Press). “I will look at artistic forays into activism, entrepreneurship, technology, education and public engagement. The book is about making room in the sandbox for transformative ideas to pop up, shine—and move on to the next place.”