Art That Drives Social Change

Nikkolas Smith interacts with the audience during a Black History Month event at the American Center New Delhi.

African American artist Nikkolas Smith began his career with an internship at Walt Disney, where he designed theme parks. Since then, Smith has collaborated with various organizations to create impactful artwork exploring themes of history and social justice. He gained international fame as the concept illustrator for the movie “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which won several Academy Awards in 2023, including visual effects and costume design.

Smith studied architecture at Hampton University, a historically black university in Virginia, where he secured a “life-changing” internship with Walt Disney. It was during this time that Smith embarked on his journey as an “artivist,” by blending his art with activism. “That’s really looking at the broken bones of the world,” he explains, “the things that are not working right, figuring out how I can make a positive change, and inspiring people to make a positive change through art.”

Smith recently attended an event at the American Center New Delhi to mark Black History Month in February, where he spoke about his dedication to promoting social change.

Excerpts from an interview.

How do you try to inspire positive change in society through art?

I try to talk to people about artivism and wake them up to show the problem or the solution. I put it all on social media and align it with current events, riding the wave of whatever’s happening in the world.

For example, there might be a mass shooting tragedy, that everybody sees on the news. It’s heartbreaking. I want to immediately make art that is usually a tribute to the victims.

When art like this is created, it can spark important conversations. It is connected to questions that we can ask ourselves, like what we are doing to help fix this problem or how we can contribute to making change faster. When I was at Walt Disney, one of the main things that really inspired and helped me along my journey was seeing the focus and dedication to craft among the Disney legends I was working with.

Could you please elaborate on how your time at Walt Disney influenced your artwork and activism.

I started my professional career as an imagineer [a term for creative engineering coined by Walt Disney Company], designing theme parks around the world for 11 years. At the same time, I would return home and create art inspired by the world around me, responding to issues on news, politics, entertainment, etc. I started to create one art piece every Sunday, calling it my Sunday Sketch Series.

Working at Walt Disney was extremely inspiring and helped me refine my artistic skills.

Does activism help an artist reach a larger audience or restrict them?

I feel activism is so important and it does help an artist reach a larger audience. I don’t think it’s restrictive because activism can actually help fix some of the biggest problems in the world. It’ll help you reach a global audience because social media connects us all.

In what ways can art help highlight the issues marginalized communities face?

I think art really can help highlight marginalized communities. And that’s why I focus a lot of my artwork on this theme. I have a piece called “Rosa,” and Rosa depicts a mother with her two kids and she’s just seeking a better life. In the artwork, Rosa is looking directly at the viewer.

I want people to look at her in the face and to see her humanity. There are minority communities that get stopped and harassed. Once people start to see the problem and the actual numbers, we can start to do something to decrease those numbers.

Please tell us about your artistic influences.
Since I was young, I have been influenced by classic oil painters.

I had art hanging on my walls in the house that I grew up in, specifically Norman Rockwell. Rockwell has a piece called “The Problem We All Live With,” which highlights young Ruby Bridges, who was the first black child to integrate public schools.

And ironically, I grew up to illustrate Miss Ruby’s picture book, one of her latest picture books called “I Am Ruby Bridges.”

I’m so influenced by oil painters like Rockwell because he was also an artivist. He spoke and made art about these “broken bones” and created a painting style.

I study a lot of artists like Kadir Nelson and Kehinde Wiley. I also try to inspire young artists to emulate the greats or find artists to study.

Please tell us about your experience interacting with the audience at the American Center New Delhi.

It was such a pleasure to be here, speaking about my picture book, “The Artivist,” and talking to so many students about my artivism. I got to interact with so many young folks and give my tips about art, how to stay consistent in making art, the use of art on social media, etc. Everybody was just so responsive and eager to hear my perspective, and I thought that was beautiful.

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