Hello from the other side of the 2016 elections. I know, it is well on the other side. But we have been busy. We have been doing what we jokingly call “training for the revolution”. Getting fit and strong, being engaged in the community, working to make a difference. I went door to door working on progressive campaigns for the November 2018 elections. Kim and I have been actively involved in Art Builds, painting/printing, making banners and signs for various causes, organizing to help the resistance be coordinated, well-designed, equipped with tools.
But the Art Builds are so much more than just helping a march, protest or strike look good. They are a community building event, an energizing phenomenon, like a barn raising, where people of all stripes, all ages and abilities come together to work in whatever way they are able to help make a difference toward a particular goal. It is an active, intensive three day (usually) event that is open to all and often draws hundreds of volunteers each day. We have done numerous Art Builds in Milwaukee with Voces de la Frontera, the Milwaukee Teacher Education Association (MTEA), Black Lives Matter and others. But we have also flown to LA and to Oakland to work with the local National Education Association (NEA) teachers unions and their creative communities there as they prepared for a possible strike. In the case of LA, the teachers won. The Art Build helped build energy and enthusiasm and equipped the unions and membership with large colorful banners and signs to demonstrate visually their unity and power. The Oakland Art Build was just a few months later and it prepared Oakland teachers for their strike which is happened shortly after. The Art Builds have become a…a movement that is gaining traction. The beauty of the Art Build is that anyone can organize one. It can be small or large with a small or a large budget. Try it! Bring your kids, your grand kids, your friends, your students. Visit artbuildworkers.com to learn more.
Note: This post was written in early 2019 but was only saved in draft form. We have since done almost 20 Art Builds all over the country with union locals and NEA.