Yes, being out and visible is helpful. You can form bonds, and get people off the fence when they see they're not alone, or you're just people like anyone else. But as I said, that's not enough on its own.

Blocking traffic or throwing paint on priceless works of art certainly captures attention, but not the kind that encourages reflection.

Depends on who's attention you're trying to get. The audience isn't always "the masses" but can be select politicians who need a reminder that things that care about can be threatened. If they don't listen to that level of anger, they might just lose the next election.

There's also the fact that countries like the US have entered an exceptionally violent era, where civil liberties don't exist and there are no legal levers to pull to influence federal policy. People will die from disintegrating regulations and dangerous public health. The government and working class are being pillaged by the wealthy, leading to a net decrease in national wealth, power and influence. People are being deported to concentration camps and companies are sponsoring it.

I hope you're talking about a non US perspective, but even if you are, you're still incorrect about how progress works. Gandhi movement brought about violent progress when he was ignored and imprisoned, while even efforts within a democratic state need to be seriously willing to withhold political support to get anywhere.