Just Making: A Guide for Compassionate Creatives
By Mitali Perkins
Broadleaf Books, 178 pages
Published May 6, 2025
Occasionally, novelist Mitali Perkins wondered if she could continue to make art. Her young reader novels did not always lead to economic security or popular success. Publishers passed over her manuscripts, and her published books didn’t sell as well as she hoped. Internal and external voices told her to give up. And beyond her personal life, she saw the world’s pain and injustice – poverty, oppression, violence – and wondered if she should continue to make art. Prioritizing a writing practice that relies on taking time for herself felt selfish when there were important causes to which she could devote her time and resources. Who was she to try to find success in art when the world was on fire?
In Just Making: A Guide for Compassionate Creatives, Perkins explores the seemingly bifurcated relationship between creativity and justice and finds that the two are not as opposed as she once thought. For Perkins, a creative life and a just life are compatible and deeply intertwined. She writes, “I believe we must keep creating art — not by ignoring a world in distress but for the sake of loving it.” From this belief, Perkins explores creativity and justice as interrelated, not oppositional.
This book is for those who identify as artists and anyone who values creativity and beauty. Each chapter draws upon different art forms as a base for discussion, and Perkins pays special attention to art that is often devalued by traditional power structures, such as quilting and cooking. While she discusses why artists might feel discouraged in their vocation due to external forces such as an exclusive market or an internal sense of anxiety, she also describes how communities can uplift artists and creatives. A robust practice of creativity can bolster anyone seeking to cultivate more just spaces in their lives, for artists and non-artists alike.
Perkins also draws upon theology and Scripture, wondering, for example, what it means to trust in a God who is a creator and a justice-seeker. Perkins also imagines how faith groups could offer tangible support to the arts community, such as hosting a childcare collective for young parents who need time for their craft or offering an artist residency program with a stipend for a new artist. For Perkins, creativity and justice are not only matters of interest for the artists, but for an entire faith community, and perhaps even the divine.
Just Making is an accessible read. Perkins writes as if chatting with her audience over a cup of tea. She shares her thoughts, dreams and experiences in a personable way even to a reader whose artistic skills begin and end with coloring book pages. With discussion questions for each chapter, this book would be an excellent study for a Sunday school class, discussion group, or even a group of artists within the church. Best of all, it does not require readers to have a formal practice of art-making. All that’s needed is a willingness to explore how creativity and justice can work hand in hand.
Presbyterian Outlook supports local bookstores. Join us! Click on the link below to purchase Just Making: A Guide for Compassionate Creatives from BookShop, an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores. As an affiliate, Outlook will also earn a commission from your purchase.
Want to receive book-related content in your inbox once a month? Sign up here.
