About this episode
What if your art could both heal your community & pay your bills? If you’re a musician or creative itching to drive real-world change without sacrificing your livelihood, this episode maps a path: how Music to Life evolved from a songwriting contest into a rigorous accelerator that helps artists design, fund, and measure community projects—so you can make change while making a living. Learn how Music To Life helps musicians turn a community cause into a sustainable enterpriseSee real models you can adapt: Vanessa Lively’s Home Street Music built 500+ song circles, 230 sessions, & raised ~$200K serving unhoused neighbors in Austin.Learn about proven impact from Benny Esguerra’s mobile studio that measured violence reduction to poet-healer Myles Bullen co-facilitating prison education to process tough emotions and build trust.Tune in to hear strategies & stories that helped artists step off the stage and into community change—without abandoning the craft that got them there. Notable MentionsPeopleLiz Sunde – Co-founder and Executive Director of Music to Life, an organization empowering socially conscious musicians to become change agents in their communities .Bill Cleveland – Host of Art Is Change and Director of the Center for the Study of Art & Community, long-time advocate for artists as community leaders .Paul Stookey – Renowned singer-songwriter, member of the legendary folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, and co-founder of Music to Life .Vanessa Lively – Austin-based singer-songwriter and founder of Home Street Music, a program using music circles to support people experiencing homelessness .Dick Crispo – Artist who co-created the longest indoor mural in the world at Soledad Prison, known for his community arts practice .Beny Esguerra – Toronto-based musician and educator, founder of the Mobile Studio Project using music to reduce gang violence through recording sessions .Myles Bullen – Indigenous poet/ rap artist from Maine, who collaborated with University of Maine Augusta faculty on prison-based education blending poetry and Holocaust studies .
