Animal Rights Activists of Today Using Art to Further the Movement

Posted by Alexis on August 19, 2024

Artivism is the use of art in activism. There are tons of creative ways to use your unique voice and talents to advocate for what you believe in!

The world is filled with highly creative, intelligent animals—from ants who build “living bridges” with their bodies to puffer fish who create artistic masterpieces several times their own size to cows who hide their babies from farmers to avoid being separated from them. We’re finally beginning to realize that humans do not have a monopoly on creativity or intelligence. When we acknowledge these traits in animals as well as their sheer will to live, it becomes difficult to imagine why humans are still using them for experimentation, food, clothing, and entertainment.

Below, we highlight some extraordinary animal rights artivists who are using their creative expression to resist and challenge the dominant speciesist social norms. These are just a few awesome examples—we’d love to see your artivism or that of any other artivists you might know!

Visual Arts 🎨

Catch eyes and turn hearts with a variety of art media

1. Acrylic Paint

Ellen Cochee blends sweet animal imagery with bold, powerful statements such as “With Us, Not for Us.” One of our favorites shows bolt-cutters left on the ground after breaking the lock on a fence that had previously imprisoned a mother cow and her baby. You can really feel their joy at being free.

2. Watercolor, Colored Pencils, and Ink

Mia Barker, owner and creator of Painting for Our Planet, makes artwork to highlight the beauty and wonder of individual species as well as to speak up against injustice!

3. Sculpture

Have a group project coming up? Turn it into a way of speaking up for animals! Nina Low and her classmates, high school students in California, interviewed peta2 about SeaWorld’s abusement parks for a group project and created an art installation encouraging fellow classmates to rethink their support for places like SeaWorld. We love to see it, Nina!

4. Mixed Media

Creativity doesn’t have to be expensive. Visions of Play uses the various textures, colors, and shapes of various affordable or free plant-based materials, from rice and beans to flowers and leaves. Similar to putting a puzzle together, arranging these small pieces is a calming sensory exercise and, when paired with a message of compassion, becomes a powerful work of art that helps animals, too.

5. Digital Art

Two college students used a digital advertising campaign project to create “Cruelty Rebranded,” a PETA-style campaign in which popular brands that have company mascots would redesign their logos or products to raise awareness of issues involving those animals. So inspiring for future graphic designers!

Pilupepper tackles each of the various industries that exploit animals for profit, including circuses, animal agriculture, and fashion, through digital drawings.

Mercedes Abad’s artwork featuring colorful, heartfelt digital drawings and open third eyes emphasizes the need for us to awaken our hearts so that we can see and appreciate the other animals with whom we share the planet. Cows, sheep, and pigs are far more like us in the ways that matter than they are different and “your wound is my wound” illustrates the beautiful compassionate mindset that we should extend to all living, feeling beings.

Performance Art 🎭

Lights, camera—action! For animals!

1. Theater and Acting

Many young actors are even using their voices off the set to speak up for animals. But sisters Violet and Madeleine McGraw don’t have to put on an act here, because animal homelessness truly is scary! If your family is thinking of welcoming a new companion animal into your home, be sure to hit up your local adoption facility and never buy an animal from a breeder.

2. Fashion

Have your style speak for you by always wearing vegan clothes and accessories. Bonus points if there’s a bold compassionate slogan to spread the word! You can stay in the know on the latest vegan fashion tips from bloggers such as Alexis Griswold or sisters Elisha and Renee Herbert.

PETA even took inspiration from the headliner 2023 couture show in Paris to recreate the Schiaparelli animal-head line with an animal rights twist and urge consumers to let sheep keep their wool.

3. Make-Up Art

Stay up-to-date with current PETA-approved cruelty-free beauty products by searching the Beauty Without Bunnies database and following influencers like Sam McGraw.

You can even extend that bold color and look with body artwork to drive your message home, like activists did here to raise awareness about how animals are abused for fashion.

4. Comedy

In a unique, comical approach to connecting people with the individual who is harmed in order to obtain the down and feathers for winter jackets, YouTuber and vegan podcast host Jamie Logan held a contest to see who could do the best bird impersonation. As a reward for their awesome acting and to help spread the message of cruelty-free fashion, the winner was given a free Save the Duck jacket!

Culinary Arts 🍽️

Touching hearts by nourishing the body and feeding the soul

Maya from Fit Green Mind keeps cooking fun and exciting with step-by-step video tutorials of a different yummy recipe each week. From veganizing animal-derived products like calamari to brand-new epic creations like baked pancake, you’ll always be amazed by the power of plants. The soft ASMR vibes and her cool accent are the cherry on top. 🍒

Trying to ball on a budget? Issy shows how simple it is to be a vegan in college with videos showing what she eats in a day and easy recipes!

Don’t ever let someone tell you that you’re “too young” to decide to go vegan or pursue your dreams. Tabay Atkins didn’t let his age stop him! At just 16 years old, he opened his own food truck while also working to get his high school diploma, yoga instructor certification, and plant-based nutritionist license!

Shi LaChef is an extraordinary young chef whose passion to show families how they can be healthy on a plant-based diet without compromising on flavor led to her being featured on numerous news channels and opening her own juice and clothing lines. Read more about her journey as a vegan chef here.

Language Arts 📝

Liberate through words

Halie Thomas is a young compassionate writer and chef who merged her two passions into one to write her very own cookbook! When she isn’t writing to save animals, she writes to create kindness, positive mental health, and well-being for herself and others.

Musical Arts 🎶

Express your beliefs through lyrics and music

There are plenty of current musicians who use their platforms to promote veganism such as pop icons Billie Eilish and Lizzo, who donated her popular song “Good as Hell” to PETA as she celebrates going vegan as a way to “eat good and feel good.”

Into old-school hip-hop? Did you know that RZA, leader of the Wu-Tang Clan, went vegan in the mid-90s? He heard eye-opening songs such as “Beef” from KRS-One and decided to learn more about what goes into the “food” on his plate. Hear what RZA has to say about shifting his lifestyle to match his morals.

Inspired by the OGs? Take matters into your own hands like Starlynn Costa, a first-year student at the University of South Alabama who gets lyrical on a beat to speak up for animals. Add this song to the car ride playlist while with your family or share it with a friend who is always up-to-date on the new jams!

Or host a school event like the University of Southern California Thornton School of Music students when they held their “Liberate Your Soul” concert as the final project for their Management of Live Performances class. They had vegan food and literature for guests, as well as donating 5% of the proceeds to PETA in support of our work to save animals!

Technology-Based Arts 📸

Innovative ways to help animals

Smartphones have created the opportunity for anyone to take quality photos and videos that can change the lives of animals as well as the minds and hearts of people. When attending a protest or a vigil to bear witness, be sure to have your camera and/or phone out to capture the moment and share with others. If you ever witness someone being cruel to an animal, be ready to capture that, too, and notify your local law enforcement. If police are unresponsive, don’t hesitate to report it to PETA!

Video games can be a great educational tool for all ages! Digital creators Sanna and Kaden partnered with PETA Kids to create a virtual animal rights experience within the Seaboard City of Roblox! This experience is no longer available, but the fun doesn’t have to end! There are so many more animal-friendly games you can play on your phone or computer. 

Former peta2 intern Zach combined a love of video games with a desire to help animals by creating the eye-opening experience Whole Lotta Lies. This game puts you in the hooves of pigs on “humane farms” to get a glimpse of the suffering they endure during their lives—from painful ear docking to illness caused by their filthy living conditions. Play on your desktop here.

Virtual reality experiences, such as “Abduction” by PETA, allow viewers to see through animals’ eyes and to empathize with them. If you have an Oculus, you can share this new experience with your friends and family here! 

Tech-savvy individuals like Florian Maas are using artificial intelligence to advocate for animals, such as when he asked AI to show him what it might be like on a factory farm. Check out what he found:

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