How Tirzo Martha’s Act of Valor Reimagines Art in Community

Lessons in collaboration, survival, and success from a Caribbean art leader

On the ground at Act of Valor, Tirzo Martha’s latest experiment in collaborative art.

Introduction

Tirzo Martha’s latest project at Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM) was a holistic manifestation of many of his artistic values. Alongside the exhibition of his film, I Wonder if They’ll Laugh When I’m Dead at PAMM, he led a corresponding workshop series called Act of Valor, where artists engaged in a dynamic, collaborative process of character-building, performance, and artistic exchange. I previously covered this project, so please check out my earlier post for more context on the film and exhibition.

I was on the ground, covering the development of the Act of Valor workshop. The experience was an intimate look at the creative process in motion. It offered a rare opportunity to witness how artists interact with each other, their materials, and the larger institutional spaces they shape through their work.

What follows are key lessons I took away from my observations—insights that extend beyond this workshop and offer valuable takeaways for any artist navigating their creative practice.

1. Build community through your practice

Tirzo Martha’s work, especially Act of Valor, exemplifies how a communal approach reshapes artistic networks and institutional engagement. By centering collaboration, he deepens connections among artists and transforms museum exhibition strategies into more dynamic and participatory practices.

Act of Valor demonstrates that community-driven work is more than an aesthetic or thematic choice. It is a structural shift in how art functions within institutions. This approach redefines engagement with museums, increasing both attendance and active participation. It fuels artistic growth, creates new opportunities, and strengthens the creative ecosystem. The symbiosis and cross-pollination encouraged by his artistic method constitute a political act, affirming that artistic community-building is a radical and transformative force. Martha and the exhibition curator, Dr. Iberia Pérez González, centered artist collaborators from the Caribbean and Latin America, strengthening that political choice. PAMM as a site is a statement, a contemporary art museum operating with political intent.

2. Art is meant to be embedded in community and survival

From a Caribbean perspective, art is not a distant spectacle but a force of survival, expression, community, and connection. Tirzo Martha’s practice embodies this philosophy, ensuring that art remains embedded in the lived realities of its creators and audiences. My favorite work of his exemplifies this tenfold: Instituto Buena Bista (IBB), an art school in Curacao that doubles as a contemporary art museum. The care and creativity he applies in running IBB are inspiring and exemplify the best parts of Martha’s creative practice.

Despite achieving conventional success—gaining institutional access and mainstream recognition—Martha uses his platform to critique the systems that extract and sanitize art from its cultural roots. His work does more than exist in these spaces; it challenges them. His practice asserts that art must stay rooted in the communities that shape it, and he refuses to let mainstream success sever that connection.

3. Art is about making do with what you have—and letting what you have make it even better

In mainstream art spaces, success is often tied to access to elite tools, prestigious training, and an underlying perfectionism that defines the work and its materials. This pursuit of refinement can strip art from its cultural roots. From a Caribbean perspective, artistic practice is not about having the best resources, but rather, it’s about survival, resourcefulness, and resilience.

Making do is not a limitation but an expansion. The most critical and transformative artistic practices emerge from necessity, working with what is available. Tirzo Martha’s work challenges the idea that success depends on acquiring more or striving for an unattainable ideal. Instead, he shows that resourcefulness fuels deeper creative exploration.

This lesson is evident in Act of Valor, where artists shape their characters by turning to each other for supplies, ideas, and collaboration. Their art is not made in isolation; it thrives through shared creativity, working with what is present, and transforming perceived limitations into new opportunities. Martha’s approach proves that art is not about having everything but about using everything to create something even more extraordinary.

4. Be mindful of how you view success—and how that shapes your path

For many artists, success feels tied to securing resources, platforms, and connections. The frustration of funding, visibility, and reaching the “right” audience is familiar. But Tirzo Martha offers a sharp lesson: be mindful of sacrificing your platform for the funds.

Not everyone who can finance your work will help you build a foundation that sustains it. Sometimes, the person who won’t buy your art today is the one who will tell ten others about you. That kind of organic, community-driven recognition is just as—if not more—valuable than an immediate sale.

This speaks to a larger pattern in Black cultural production. Time and time again, Black communities shape, curate, and popularize movements—whether in music, fashion, art, or literature—only for mainstream (often white) culture to later consume, profit from, and commercialize that work. Hip-hop is a prime example, but nearly every major contemporary music genre in the Western Hemisphere follows this cycle. Black communities create something groundbreaking, it gains momentum, and only then does mainstream culture take interest—often through appropriation.

Martha speaks from experience. As an artist who has moved through mainstream recognition, he reflects critically on what gets lost and must be protected. His lesson is clear: success isn’t about institutional validation or financial backing—it’s about building a platform that sustains itself, rooted in the people who first recognized and uplifted its value.

By defining success on their terms, artists can resist the pressure to chase immediate financial gains at the cost of long-term cultural impact. Ultimately, lasting artistic influence isn’t just about money—it’s about the foundation of recognition, respect, and storytelling that communities build around the work.

Final Thoughts

I love finding ways to present some of what’s happened on the ground because it really honors what we can take from Tirzo Martha’s example. These lessons are ultimately about nurturing community, re-embedding art, encouraging collaboration, and decentering ourselves in our practice in ways that serve us as artists. Leaning on community, cross-pollinating ideas, and sharing knowledge and resources are all acts that sustain and enrich artistic practice and political resistance.

And this is just the beginning. Stay tuned for Part Two, where I’ll share more lessons from the Act of Valor workshop and final performance. I’ll also be releasing a short visual essay that captures this experience in a more immersive way, so keep an eye out for that!

Until then—stay sharp, curious, and, as always, keep hunting.

Related Killer Instinct Content

Act of Valor: Tirzo Martha and the Politics of Caribbean Art in Miami