Using Arts to Choose Democracy & Create Change with Nancy Pili Hernandez & David Solnit.
Channel: East Point Peace Academy
Date: 23/10/2020

This workshop was given by Nancy Pili Hernandez and David Solnit on Oct. 14 as part of the "Preparing Together: Enhancement Training for the Election" series with East Point Peace Academy.

This hour and a half workshop will combine reflection on the role of arts in creating change with a hands-on online art-build. Let's create something beautiful together!
 
Part 1: HOW ART CREATES CHANGE: Nancy and David will share examples and ideas of how visual arts help to change the narrative and play a crucial part in campaigns to create positive change. We will also focus on democracy-protecting work underway right now, such as Choose Democracy, and will encourage people to form action teams to help prevent a stolen election. We'll offer ideas about how such teams can help their communities prepare through street postering, chalking, and street murals.


Part 2: MAKE A SIGN: The second part we will ask people to come prepared with paper and art supplies and make a sign around the Choose Democracy themes. We will offer practical tips about elements of a visually strong and compelling sign, ask folks to see how far they can get in 30-45 minutes, and then share their in-process work. The signs can be used as window posters, in your yard or fence, to carry in demonstrations and actions, or to wheatpaste in public places. We will also ask each participant to take a photo of themselves holding their finished sign and display them online to inspire others. During our art build we hope to have musicians and song leaders share some songs to inspire and support us as we create our art.

THE FACILITATORS

Nancy Pili Hernandez is a San Francisco artist, educator, activist and a member of Trust Your Struggle (TYS)---an artist collective of visual artists, educators, and cultural workers dedicated to social justice, environmental sustainability, and community activism through the medium of art. TYS is a crew, fam, and folks that are getting down for the people through graphic design, printmaking, photography, illustration, graffiti, multimedia installations, mural painting and more.

David Solnit is an East Bay artist and arts organizer, centering the arts to build movements, nurture mass participation and to help change the narratives. He has co-led the Climate Justice Mural Project facilitating large scale, multi-block street mural actions together with Idle No More SF Bay and the Society of Fearless Grandmothers in 2018 (Rise for Climate) and 2019 (Climate Strike). He is currently using arts to support the Poor People's Campaign, and Keep Families Housed anti-eviction campaign.