Unionizing Starbucks in Portland
June 3, 2022
Across the USA, a wave of union activity is hitting the ubiquitous storefronts of the Starbucks brand. The baristas and “partners” calling for union elections are on the frontline of…
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Art Builds
Collaborative art creation for protests and public events. 
Justseeds X NRDC on Vocalo Radio
April 26, 2022
We are thrilled to share a brief audio spotlight from Vocalo Radio‘s reporter Ari Mejia on the recent Justseeds collaboration/installation in Chicago including short visits with Elizabeth Corr of the…
Banner for a City Hall Strike
January 10, 2022
Last week my art-and-life partner Erica Thomas and I collaborated on a small banner for a potential upcoming strike at Portland City Hall. The city workers organized with District Council…
Recent Victories Against Fossil Fuel Infrastructure
December 4, 2021
Seems strange to post about good news, but I will absolutely take it where I find it. This week, there were two victories in campaigns that I’ve been associated with,…
Endangered Species Murals #26: The Mexican Blindcat
October 27, 2021
In the first weeks of October, 2021, I traveled to Del Rio, Texas to paint the 26th installment in the Endangered Species Mural Project, an effort to paint murals of…
Early 2021 Projects
February 5, 2021
I’ve just returned to Portland from a swing through the high plateaus of the southwest, escaping the Portland cloud and retaining social distance. Being away from the studio meant that…
Rebuild Rogue Climate
January 10, 2021
Over the past four or five years I’ve designed and produced a series of banners, signs, stickers and posters to support the ongoing struggle against the Jordan Cove Liquefied Natural…
Port Blockade banners for Portland Rising Tide
November 7, 2019
I recently had the pleasure to design a couple of banners for an action taken by colleagues at Portland Rising Tide. Climbers and kayakers from PRT and Mosquito Fleet chained…
CTU-SEIU 73 Art Build: Art Tactics for the #RedforEd Movement
November 3, 2019
The October 2019 strike for education justice by CTU (Chicago Teachers Union) and SEIU 73 strike ended with a new agreement after eleven-days on the picket line by more than…
Nicolas Lampert and Paul Kjelland at University of Connecticut
October 7, 2019
Justseeds members Nicolas and Paul recently spoke at the University of Connecticut about Art Builds. They also led a screenprinting workshop, where we printed climate strike images onto muslin fabric…
Call for designs for massive Chicago Art Build for Public Education
September 14, 2019
Join Justseeds and the Art Build Workers in supporting Chicago teachers, students, families, and public service employees by making designs for a massive Chicago Art Build for Public Education. Chicago…
A week of art builds at the NEA Conference in Houston
July 8, 2019
The Milwaukee-based Art Build Workers just spent a full week working on two large-scale art builds in Houston for the NEA (National Education Association) annual conference. This was our second…
PGCEA Art Build
March 8, 2019
Here is a video by Joe Brusky documenting the recent Prince George County Education Association art build in Maryland.
Fighting to Keep Teachers in Oakland
February 3, 2019
Check out this video by Joe Brusky. It features an interview with Jasmene Miranda – an Oakland public school – during the OEA (Oakland Education Association) art build from January…
OEA Art Build: Stand with Oakland Teachers and Students!
January 30, 2019
There is power in a union. There is power in the solidarity between teachers, students, and parents, and there is power in an art build. From January 18th to 20th…
UTLA Art Build: Stand with Los Angeles Teachers!
December 13, 2018
There is power in a union. There is power in solidarity. And there is power in art. Last weekend these themes were on full display during a three-day art build…
Endangered Species Mural #16: Borderlands Wildlife in El Paso
September 1, 2018
The sixteenth of the Endangered Species Murals is finished! This big wall is located near the Convention Center in downtown El Paso, Texas, and features five endangered species from the…
Comida es Medicina seed altar
August 7, 2018
Much of my art is created for use by activist organizations, most of it is individually created, things like poster designs, block prints or etchings. I’m happy in this work….
Art Build at the NEA Conference on Racial and Social Justice in Minneapolis
July 4, 2018
A week ago, five of us from Milwaukee traveled up to Minneapolis to work on a two-day art build during the NEA (National Education Association) Conference on Racial and Social…
Silkscreen Printing in Jacmel, Haiti
April 23, 2018
In February of this year I had the good fortune to travel to Jacmel, Haiti, to teach a class on screenprinting at a small community arts center called Jakmel Ekspresyon….
Poor People’s Campaign NYC Art Build
April 22, 2018
I had a lot of fun helping out at the Poor People’s Campaign NYC art build at the Union Theological Seminary, a couple weekends back. Below are a couple of…
NO LNG Propaganda Party at PNCA in Portland
March 15, 2018
In early March I helped to organize a banner-painting Propaganda Party at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, over three lunchtimes in the school’s central atrium. I’m the Cultural…
Voces de la Frontera Community Art Build in Milwaukee
January 30, 2018
Building Art to Keep Families Together from MTEA Union on Vimeo. Joe Brusky of MTEA and the Overpass Light Brigade made a time lapse video of the recent Voces de…
Recap of the Twin Cities Art Build for Public Education
November 27, 2017
There is power in a union. There is power in art. A few weeks ago, five hundred-plus people – teachers, students, union organizers, artists, and allies – came together in…
Parachute banners: Notes from the May Day preparation in Milwaukee
April 25, 2017
Voces de la Frontera has organized the annual May Day march for the past decade in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This year is no different. In this time of crisis Voces de…
Milwaukee Art Build for Public Education Recap
February 16, 2017
Art builds bring people together and create stronger coalitions. A few weeks ago over 150 people – artists, public school teachers, union organizers, activists, allies, and community members came together…
Milwaukee Art Build recap
April 25, 2016
Here is a recap of the Art Build that took place in Milwaukee from April 16th-20th. The event was organized by myself and Susan Simensky Bietila and revolved around a…
D12 Paris Climate Demos Recap: Jardin d’ Alice art space
December 28, 2015
Earlier this month – from December 4th-14th – I was in Paris for the lead up to the D12 demos that took place on the day that world “leaders” signed…
Painting a 300 ft banner for D12 Paris: time-lapse video
December 9, 2015
Busy times in Paris. Two days ago artists from all over the world painted a 300 ft. (100 meter) banner for the upcoming D12 demos in Paris. Solnit led the…
Painting 300 ft. banner for D12 demos in Paris
December 8, 2015
Yesterday a crew of artists from all over the world painted a 300 ft. (100 meter) banner for D12 – the demo at the end of the COP 21 Climate…
Activist Art at COP 21 Climate Conference Paris 2015
December 6, 2015
This is what making art with a hundred-plus people looks like. One of the hub spaces for artists to crank out work for the countless number of demos taking place in…