Jessie McGuire is the Managing Partner at brand design studio ThoughtMatter, leading a diverse team to create daring designs and identities for global brands, local communities, art museums and foundations, institutions and non-profits. She has spent over a decade transforming billion-dollar brands including Kimberly-Clark, P&G and Colgate-Palmolive into social icons on both the client and agency side. The studio, located in Flatiron NYC, sees art and design as a tool for disruption and social impact. This election year, ThoughtMatter engaged Colossal Media to install a hand-painted mural repurposing Gustave Courbet’s ‘The Origin of the World’, an artwork of tumultuous history, to encourage voters to keep reproductive rights top of mind. The studio has utilized art to make other political statements, such as challenging the accessibility of NYC, redesigning the Constitution, bringing visibility to the mission of the Women’s March, and more.
The Transformative Power of Art
The 2024 election is yet another reminder that the solutions we need won’t come from the top. Change isn’t going to trickle down from debates or sweeping, vague, and dangerous promises. Instead, it’s messy, local and, often, starts in classrooms and community centers. Real transformation begins when we invest in people—not just in their votes, but in their ability to imagine, question, and create. This is why we believe so deeply in art education as a future-thinking practice. Art is not just about expression; it’s a tool for radical transformation.
From Classrooms to Communities
Art education isn’t just finger painting and figure drawing. It uses creativity as a medium to uncover what’s real. It’s a catalyst for empathy, critical thinking, and action. It teaches young people to see the world for what it is — and to imagine what it could be. Within our communities grappling with climate crises, political disillusionment, and social fragmentation, we need generations armed not just with knowledge, but also with imagination and the courage to act.
And yet we continue to see art education systemically undervalued, chronically underfunded, and often relegated to the margins. It doesn’t fit neatly into the metrics-driven systems which prize standardized answers over bold questions. When we overlook art, we don’t just lose creative skills; we lose tools to navigate complexity and inspire change.
Art In Action
At ThoughtMatter we’ve seen firsthand how art in action creates ripples that reach far beyond the classroom or gallery. Take ARTE’s workshops, for example, where young people confront human rights issues through art, and GirlForward’s programs, which empower young refugees to reimagine their futures through design. These aren’t just exercises in creativity — they’re frameworks for empowerment and advocacy.
At ThoughtMatter, we also do the work ourselves. Through projects like our zine series on untold stories, our “Who is NY For?” installation highlighting inequity in urban spaces, and our Where Democracy Begins Mural for reproductive rights, we’ve seen how art can amplify critical issues and mobilize action.
Our work is not just about eye-catching campaigns or thought-provoking installations. We aim to equip people, especially young people, with skills like problem-solving, critical thinking and cultural empathy. These are the tools that challenge inequity, build communities and imagine a more equitable future.
Art as the Foundation of Progress
Art isn’t theoretical; it’s tangible. We believe the messy process of creation mirrors the messy process of change. When communities create together, they foster connection, spark dialogue, and push boundaries. Progress isn’t linear; and like art, it must be iterative.
After this election, it’s clear that change will not begin or end in the halls of power, but in classrooms, workshops, and grassroots efforts. Teaching young people to question systems, amplify stories, and imagine new futures is where transformation starts. At ThoughtMatter, we believe imagination is a radical act that can transform the world.
Art must move from the margins to the center. It’s the foundation of a society rooted in action and belonging. As ThoughtMatter heads into 2025, we are carrying forward a call to action: Invest in art education, art museums, and cultural institutions. If we want change from the ground up, we need to put art and its power into more hands.
