**UPDATE** We had to cap registration at 1000. For those not able to register: the notes/resources will be available on this post a day or two after the event. I know that not everyone who registers actually shows up, but we are already well past 1000 registrants, and the list was continuing to grow rapidly. Better to cut it off now and potentially do the workshop AGAIN at a later date.
This post will be two things: (1) Sharing info on this coming Tuesday’s virtual workshop on how artists can contribute to movement work in this moment; and (2) Sharing the notes/resources from that workshop after it happens.
The Virtual Discussion/Workshop: Tuesday, January 13 at 7pm central via Zoom
What Can Artists Do? What Are We Doing? A virtual workshop for musicians, poets, and other artists to explore how we can meaningfully support movement work in this historical moment – with a focus on (1) anti-ICE organizing and community defense, and (2) Minneapolis (although what we discuss should be relevant to other communities too).
What to Expect
I like to share, ahead of time, what people can expect from a virtual event, because they can be facilitated in a lot of different ways. Here is our plan:
- THE FOCUS: Concrete, specific ways that artists can meaningfully support organizing. That means that this won’t be a writing workshop, or an exploration of tactics related to the art itself (we will, however, share some resources for those interested in that to explore on your own time). It’ll be more about how artists use the space, skills, and audiences that we have access to.
- FOR EXAMPLE: The focus would be less on any one individual poster design from this collection, and more on the power of posters as a tactic: an opportunity to mobilize an arts community via a call-for-art, a real-world example of art as a collective practice, an excuse to get some friends together and go around putting up posters – these are all arts-oriented ways to practice, and/or to enter into, organizing.
- ANOTHER EXAMPLE: While we’d love to talk about the nuts-and-bolts of zine writing and design, our focus here would be more on how people are using zines to share information, and organizing folding parties to build community and create doorways for people into rapid response work.
- YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE: It’s great when a poet or musician is asked to perform at a rally, but rather than talk about the “power of voice” in a big general sense, our focus would be on specific ways artists can bring the conversation from the one-time rally into the spaces we have access to all the time: from the slam, to the concert, to the gallery, to social media and beyond.
- INTERACTIVITY: A lot of people are signed up for this. Because of that, the workshop will be interactive in the sense that there will be a few guiding questions and opportunities to respond, BUT it’ll all be opt-in and primarily text-based (I like to use Padlet; you do NOT need to sign up for an account to participate): there will be no mandatory icebreakers, small-group breakouts, or big open-ended conversations. So if you’re an introvert who just wants to listen, you’re good.
- SECURITY: This will be a cameras-off, mics-off event (controlled on the host-side). We encourage people in virtual events to always assume they are being surveilled, and act accordingly. This relates to the next point:
- WILL IT BE RECORDED? We will NOT be recording the conversation, but WILL be sharing a detailed report-back after the event, featuring the slides, resources and more info for those who can’t make it. All that will be shared here, a day or two after the event.
Facilitation Team and Approach
This conversation will be facilitated by me and UyenThi. We are NOT presenting this workshop as experts or authorities, and will NOT simply be lecturing you all for an hour. We are simply facilitators—and speaking for myself, this is the kind of conversation I’ve facilitated countless times over the years, so I can synthesize some of that experience and share tactics and resources that way, while also bringing in a bunch of other voices and perspectives (all of which will be linked to for further exploration).
Part of our goal is that the “work” isn’t all in the 1.5 hour event itself. We’ll share some frameworks, guiding stars, real-world examples, and critical questions—but we’ll also share opportunities to collaboratively build some resources that can live on beyond the event, leaning on the wisdom and expertise of the participants, something we can take back to our communities.
There’s a stereotype of artists as people with our heads always up-in-the-clouds, but our focus for this event will be intentionally down-to-earth, and our hope is that people will leave not just with inspiration, but with some specific, concrete tactics to put to work too.
Coming Soon: Resources + Report-Back
That will go here! Bookmark the link, but I will also be sure to share it again via IG and BlueSky once it’s ready to share. We’ll mention all this at the event too. Thanks for your interest.
Bringing this Discussion into Other Spaces
A last note that if you want to bring this workshop to your organization, school, or other community space, get in touch here.
We wanted to do this first installment completely independent of any org collaborators so we could experiment with the content/format, but most of my actual work is in partnership with groups, whether in-person or virtual. Thanks.