Come create art at our spring art-making workshops! These workshops are a part of our Art & Activism Series: from February to June 2023, each month we hear from an artist or artist group about their work and philosophy during our online Monthly Organizing Meetings. In April and May, we are hosting two in-person art workshops to create art for our movement and to support our partners. Read on for details!
NEXT EVENT
SAT May 20th, 10am – 2pm in Seattle
Art-Making Workshop: Screen-printing & Poetry
February Art & Activism M.O.M. speaker David Solnit and Julie Searle will lead a screen-printing and poetry workshop with us. Come to Welcome Table Church on Beacon Hill, 1322 S Bayview St, Seattle on SAT, May 20, 10 am- 2 pm. Free taco lunch provided! No skills necessary! Kids are welcome, (with adult supervision). Registration: tinyurl.com/may20silkscreen
We need art supplies – do you have supplies to lend? Email [email protected].
PAST EVENTS
SUN April 23, 12:30 – 4:30 PM in Seattle
Art-Making Workshop: Block-printing & banner-making!
CAGJ is preparing artwork for the MAY DAY Farmworker March in Skagit Valley (see below) and you’re invited! Come to Welcome Table Church on Beacon Hill, 1322 S Bayview St, Seattle, on SUN April 23 from 12:30 – 4:30 PM for our Art-Making Workshop. We will be block-printing and painting hand-held signs and a banner for the march. Everyone takes home their own patch! Free taco lunch provided! No skills necessary! Kids are welcome, (with adult supervision). Registration tinyurl.com/apr23workshop.
Bring your art to the following events:
SUN April 30 in Skagit Valley
MAY DAY Farmworker March
We are excited to join the annual Farmworker May Day March in Skagit Valley (one hour north of Seattle), organized by Familias Unidas por la Justicia Farmworker union and Community to Community Development (C2C). Familias Undias por la Justicia (FUJ) and Community to Community (C2C). FUJ is an independent local farm worker labor union in Washington State, and the only labor union in the US led by over 400 indigenous Mixteco and Triqui farm workers. C2C is a women-led grassroots organization dedicated to food sovereignty and immigrant rights. This year’s theme is Sin Miedo! Without Fear! We will carpool from Seattle, and gather at Edgewater Park in Mt. Vernon at 9AM and the march will depart at 10AM. Stay afterwards to celebrate with food and music. Need a ride or can give a ride? Join CAGJ’s carpool so we can make it out together! Volunteer at the march: [email protected]
MON May 1 in Seattle
May 1 March & Rally
Gather at the Federal Building, 915 2ND Ave S, Seattle to celebrate International Workers Day with the May 1st Action Coalition.
ART & ACTIVISM SPEAKER SERIES
February: Guest David Solnit
David Solnit shared stories of his work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a group of tomato growers in Florida who organized for better pay and working conditions. The CIW appealed to corporations like Taco Bell to commit to only buying exploitation-free tomatoes, and to take on the extra cost so that workers down the line would have a liveable wage. Their campaigns used art in the form of popular street theater, huge paper mache puppets and traditional signage to create impactful actions. David was called in to help lead the artmaking workshops, train organizers within the CIW in using art of this scale for change, and got to participate in moments of glorious victory, where the organizers had to scrap their protest signs because their demands were met ahead of their march. You can watch videos of some of these actions in this presentation.
In addition to hearing about the CIW stories, we also got to hear from other folks about the art they do. We heard from folks who make pieces with scrap materials like wood, plastic, cardboard, etc.; from folks who do screen printing and block printing; folks who express their creativity through cooking for friends. It was great to hear from everyone, celebrate each other, and learn more about how vibrant our movements are!
March: Guests Community to Community Art Team and Edgar Franks of Familias Uniads por la Justicia.
We learned about the history of their organizing through inspiring images of their art. Watch the recording of their presentation here.
April 18: Beverly Naidus
Beverly is an eco-artist and writer who has collaborated with activist and community groups, artist collectives, and zeir partner, Dr. Bob Spivey. Zeir primary forms are public installations, digital projects, and artist’s books. After creating an interdisciplinary studio art program for social change and healing at UW Tacoma, and writing a book about it, ze has left academia to write another book, facilitate more community art projects, and teach independently.
Beverly will discuss the ways of making art for social change that go beyond usual protest art – posters, banners, puppets, theater, for example. We’ll explore what else is on the spectrum of activist art, using the approach of grassroots dialogue building and discussion through artmaking. We’ll brainstorm how to use art as a tool to unite non-artists, and non-activists, just as much as people who are already in the movement.
June 20: Theo Calhoun
Theo is a film-maker, who is helping apply to film-festivals to screen CAGJ’s Rich Appetites film series! More information to come soon.
