Introducing Kevin Yuen Kit Lo
July 21, 2020
We want to welcome Kevin Yuen Kit Lo as part of the Justseeds class of 2020! Kevin lives and works in Montreal/Tiohtià:ke. He is the principal and creative director of…
Education
Blog (195)
Reflecting on the Let Our People Go: Week of Action
May 6, 2020
From April 13th to 17th the Illinois Coalition for Higher Education in Prison (IL-CHEP) hosted the Let Our People Go: Week of Action. One of the IL-CHEP coalition partners is…
The Art of Protest
May 5, 2020
A small glimmer of hope and enjoyment arrived in the mail a little while back, a copy of the new political poster book by Jo Rippon and Amnesty International, The…
Interview with Meredith Stern on Socially Engaged Art
March 31, 2020
By Manon Thompson Last fall I met Meredith Stern at the Uri-Eichen Gallery in Chicago, during the opening of Chip Thomas’ exhibition, Be here now! She wore a vegan pleather…
Networks of Collaboration: Movement Art Exhibition as a Source of Reflection & Solidarity
March 11, 2020
By Artie Foster Co-Prosperity Sphere in Bridgeport was buzzing with conversation and anticipation as attendees of the spaces’ Networks of Resistance exhibition, which ran from October 12th through November 17th…
Complexity: Against Ecofascism
March 7, 2020
Over Christmas I visited my family and at dinner one night my stepfather was telling a story about his childhood, and how his father had made a living. They lived…
New Documentary: Matewan, History From Below
February 26, 2020
A new film by Addison Post about historical memory, and how we share it.
Re-imagining the California Mission Dioramas
February 13, 2020
This year, my son did not have to create a diorama of a California mission, like so many children in California schools used to do. Instead, the class studied the…
Endangered Species Murals: White Fringeless Orchid
November 26, 2019
It was a real treat to return to Berea, Kentucky, to paint this mural celebrating one of the Southeasts’ most enigmatic and endangered plants- the White Fringeless Orchid, Platanthera integrilabia….
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…
A Time of Expectant Hopes
October 24, 2019
“A Time of Expectant Hopes,” a collaboration between Pete Railand and Jenna Valoe, including works inspired by 19th century union banners, suffragist banners, and modern day activist banners. Opening Friday…
Exhibiting the Redacted Rubbings Project
October 6, 2019
Documentation of two new exhibits of historical marker rubbings in the manner of erasure poetics.
Endangered Species Mural Project #21: Species of the Gila
August 15, 2019
It’s the 21st installment in the Endangered Species Mural Project! This one happened in Silver City, New Mexico, a beautiful mountain town on the edge of the Gila National Forest,…
Eric J. Garcia on Drawing Anger
August 11, 2019
An interview with artist Eric J. Garcia about his new book Drawing On Anger: Portraits of U.S Hypocrisy and his celebrated exhibition The Bald Eagle’s Toupee at DePaul Art Museum….
Remember history, remember relevance
July 24, 2019
Above: Native-American activists Amy Anderson and Mari Villaluna, with Chinese-American elder Pam Tau Lee One of the leaders working to take down the New Deal-era murals at George Washington High…
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…
An Encyclopedia featured on Pop Matters
July 8, 2019
I’m so excited that my new book An Encyclopedia of Political Record Labels is gathering steam. This book has been 4 years in the making, with two earlier editions self-published…
Thoughts on Working as an Artist in a History Museum: Creating a New Exhibition at the WV Mine Wars Museum
June 4, 2019
Storytelling Through Artifacts, with Notes on Aerial Bombing and the Relationship between Mining and Militarism
Endangered Species Coalition interview
May 2, 2019
I was recently interviewed by Jeanne Dodds at the Endangered Species Coalition about the mural project I’ve been coordinating for the past four and a half years. See the full…
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.
Higher Education Action Day
February 20, 2019
It’s been amazing to see the involvement of Justseeds artists in the organizing, labor, and image generation at the large-scale art builds happening in Wisconsin around immigration and California around…
Reworked Atelier Populaire Posters with Art In Ad Places
February 5, 2019
Last year was the 50th anniversary of the global revolt of 1968, and the events of May and June 1968 in Paris, in particular. One of the most enduring legacies…
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…
Redacted Rubbings: Critiquing the Language of Historical Markers with Crayons and a Ladder
October 7, 2018
“Nothing cuts off self-determination more efficiently than eradicating its language. Replacing it with misdirecting prattle… is a magnificent coup for those who would like to keep us wary of one another.”…
Utopian Flag Making
October 2, 2018
This past Sunday I organized (along with Monica and Interference Archive’s Radical Playdate) a kids flag making workshop in connection with For Which It Stands, an exhibition at the Old…
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Installation – Rhode Island
September 6, 2018
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights portfolio created by Meredith Stern is on display for the month of September at 159 Sutton Street in Providence. There is a gallery opening…
August 6, 1945 – May this great evil never be repeated
August 6, 2018
The world entered the nuclear age with the A-bombing of Hiroshima at 8:15 A.M. on August 6, 1945. Ever since then, there has been a growing desire by humankind for…
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…
Natalie Campbell and Nick Petr on the Poor People’s Campaign & the DC Public Library
June 22, 2018
The new Justseeds Poor People’s Campaign portfolio is just one example of artists getting involved with this self proclaimed “new and unsettling force.” Over the past several weeks the campaign…
Legacy of the Neighborhood Arts Program
June 10, 2018
Earlier this year I was humbled to get the chance to interview the amazing political artist Jane Norling. One powerful project Jane was involved in was the San Francisco based…
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….
Monica Trinidad on Art, Action, and For the People Artists Collective
March 27, 2018
MonicaTrinidad at Do Not Resist exhibition. Photo by Love & Struggle photos. A growing number of artists have been responding to social issues and making political work. Yet, fewer have been…
Jane Norling on Women’s Rights, Human Rights, & Fifty Years of Art & Activism
March 17, 2018
Jane Norling is an artist activist with an inspiring past. For fifty years, as a painter, graphic designer, and public artist, she’s created community murals, graphic designs for social and…
Bread and Puppet Theater on Audio Interference #45
March 9, 2018
Audio Interference, a podcast series produced by the Interference Archive, has released an episode on the Bread and Puppet Theater, started in the 1960’s by Peter Shumann. The all volunteer…
Building a portfolio for the new Poor People’s Campaign
February 13, 2018
On December 4, 1967, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. announced plans for a Poor People’s Campaign and called for the nation to take dramatic steps to end poverty. In…
TROUBLE #9: Learning To Resist
February 4, 2018
Submedia has a new episode form their series Trouble. Check it out Older generations never tire of reminding youth that the years they spend on college or university campus are…
NO LNG Rally in Salem
January 15, 2018
Over the last few weeks I’ve been collaborating with Klamath artists Ka’ila Farrel-Smith and Asa Wright to produce some big banners for a rally against Liquefied Natural Gas export in…
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…
Help sub.media #BringBackStim
September 27, 2017
Our fellow travelers from sub.media are in serious need of financial support and are interested in reviving their show, Its the end of the world as we know it and…
Total Essential Knowledge: a collaborative graphic communication archive
July 25, 2017
“no one is an expert in everything, but everyone is an expert in something” For the past couple years I’ve been facilitating Total Essential Knowledge events that use conversation and drawing…
Interference Archive on PRINT Magazine website
June 2, 2017
Steven Heller interviewed Justseeds member/Interference Archive co-founder Kevin Caplicki, along with archive members Jen Hoyer, Bonnie Gordon and Louise Barry, for PRINT Magazine’s website. The Interference Archive in Brooklyn, New…
Call-out for art and writing- Certain Days Calendar
May 11, 2017
Hey all, another year has gone by and the Certain Days collective is looing for your writing and art for their 2018 calendar. Its a great project supporting political prisoners…
Endangered Species Mural #12: Streaked Horned Lark & Kincaid’s Lupine
April 13, 2017
I just finished off the 12th in the Endangered Species Mural Project, at the corner of Lombard and Atlantic in North Portland, OR. Painted with Portland artist Sarah Farahat, the…
Celebrate World Water Day with our Wellspring portfolio
March 22, 2017
World Water Day focuses attention on the importance of universal access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene facilities in developing countries. The day also focuses on advocating for the sustainable…
Resources on Justice
March 18, 2017
1. Community The successful projects, organizations, and movements for justice that I know of have been deeply rooted in community. Communities defend, sustain, grow, inspire, and transform movements just as…
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…
James Baldwin Mural in Pittsburgh
February 16, 2017
John Jennings’ Celebrate People’s History poster of James Baldwin has been turned into a 4 ft. x 8 ft. mini-mural as part of Pittsburgh’s Sidewall project. Sidewall is a mural…
Packing a Go Bag (Essential Knowledge post 10)
January 11, 2017
Another image that is part of Essential Knowledge: a series of instructional drawings teaching basic skills for success in challenging situations. I made this one while preparing for the birth of my…
Art Build Techniques for Protest
January 6, 2017
Bay-Area arts organizer David Solnit has been making art for protest movements for decades, and has established a practice of simple, reliable techniques for amplifying messages in the streets. I’ve…
Starting a Fire (Essential Knowledge post 9)
December 28, 2016
Another image that is part of Essential Knowledge: a series of instructional drawings teaching basic skills for success in challenging situations. This is an early one. One person I met took a look…
Tying Knots (Essential Knowledge post 8)
December 14, 2016
Another image that is part of Essential Knowledge: a series of instructional drawings teaching basic skills for success in challenging situations. This is an early one. It is also available as part of…
Making a Boat (Essential Knowledge post 7)
November 30, 2016
Another image that is part of Essential Knowledge: a series of instructional drawings teaching basic skills for success in challenging situations. I made this one after pulling all the salvageable electrical out of…
Subscribe to Community Supported Art for 2017!
November 23, 2016
Hi Everyone! This year’s election will radically transform many people’s political activity, but defending what we have and fighting for change is not just a reaction to the current regime….
Encoding Messages (Essential Knowledge post 6)
November 16, 2016
Another image that is part of Essential Knowledge: a series of instructional drawings teaching basic skills for success in challenging situations. This one was influenced by some weird rightwing militia audiobook. It is…
Live Printing at the Art Museum
November 7, 2016
I was recently invited to do a live-printing demo at the Portland Art Museum, as part of their programming around the big Warhol show they have up. It was a…
Calming Your Newborn (Essential Knowledge post 5)
November 2, 2016
Another image that is part of Essential Knowledge: a series of instructional drawings teaching basic skills for success in challenging situations. I made this one while trying to learn as much as possible…
Apogee Journal seeking art and writing by October 31
October 25, 2016
From Apogee Journal: “The ongoing struggles of the Standing Rock Sioux community and the multitudinous tribes that have joined in protest in North Dakota has inspired Apogee Journal to facilitate…
Mass Exodus (Essential Knowledge post 4)
October 19, 2016
Another image that is part of Essential Knowledge: a series of instructional drawings teaching basic skills for success in challenging situations. I made this one while living and working along the Schelde (river) in…
Breaking Down a Door (Essential Knowledge post 3)
October 5, 2016
Another image that is part of Essential Knowledge: a series of instructional drawings teaching basic skills for success in challenging situations. I made this one after leaving rural Ireland and thinking about what…
Creating Home & Place Through Public Art
October 1, 2016
Just this morning, justseeds artist Jess X. Snow & public artist, Lunar New Year lead a free community public art and mural workshop at Urban Word’s annual Preemptive Education Conference at New…
Grizzly Attack (Essential Knowledge post 2)
September 21, 2016
A recent image that is a part of Essential Knowledge: a series of instructional drawings teaching basic skills for success in challenging situations. I got obsessed with bear attacks when we were…
The Prison in Twelve Landscapes at Milwaukee Film Festival
September 18, 2016
Justseeds is a community partner with the Milwaukee Film Festival again this year. We are partnering with the film The Prison in Twelve Landscapes, which I am really looking forward to…
Essential Knowledge: a series of instructional drawings teaching basic skills for success in challenging situations
September 14, 2016
In 2011 and 2012 I was living on on the barren Atlantic coast of Ireland where the weather is an ever present and dominating factor in peoples’ daily lives. From…
New Justseeds Portfolio, Available Now!
September 12, 2016
New release available from Justseeds! Wellspring, Justseeds’ newest portfolio, is made up of 12 original Risograph prints, enclosed inside a handprinted fabric bandana, each exploring our contemporary relationship to water….
Up Against the Wall opening tonight at Booklyn
August 30, 2016
WHEN Opening Reception Aug. 30th, 7-10PM Exhibition Runs Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016 – Tuesday, Sep. 27, 2016 WHERE Booklyn | 37 Greenpoint Avenue, Suite E4G / Box 23, Brooklyn, NY…
241: Black Orpheus
August 29, 2016
Black Orpheus: A Journal of African and Afro-American Literature is likely the most important literary journal to emerge out of Africa, and one of the most important in the world…
No Pipelines on Indigenous Land
August 23, 2016
Over the last two days, Justseeds’ member Dylan Miner put together some graphics in solidarity with Standing Rock resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline. You can read about Native support here at Indian…
Protests in Print at NYPL
August 15, 2016
Many Justseeds-related publications are included in the current “flash exhibition” Protests in Print at the New York Public Library. Signal, the Librarians and Archivists to Palestine zine, and some Interference…
TAKE THIS HAMMER Art + Media Activism from the Bay Area
August 10, 2016
If you haven’t been to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts to check out their latest exhibit you need to get down there before it cloeses August 14th! The…
On Love & Transformation Despite the Violence: An Interview with Kabul Graffiti Artist Kabul Knights
July 25, 2016
Peace Seekers by Kabul Knights Yesterday, I opened my email to read about the deadly attack on the Hazara demonstration on July 23rd in Kabul, Afghanistan. I had received a message…
Endangered Species Murals #9: White Fringeless Orchid
July 25, 2016
The 9th of the Endangered Species Murals is recently completed in the town of Berea, Kentucky- featuring the first plant in the series, the beautiful and strange White Fringeless Orchid….
On Cutting up Military Uniforms in the San Francisco War Memorial Veterans Building: An interview with Combat Paper founder Drew Cameron
July 13, 2016
Riparian Sheet created by Drew Cameron at the Veterans Memorial in San Francisco, 2016. On June 9th, the San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries hosted a one-day public Combat Paper and…
Endangered Species Mural #8: Freshwater Mussels of Tennessee
July 4, 2016
The eighth of the Endangered Species Murals is now complete! I’ve just returned to Portland from Knoxville, Tennessee, after finishing up the largest mural I have ever had the pleasure…
239: Ravan Books
June 27, 2016
This week’s focus is on the South African published house Ravan Press, which was founded in 1972 by Peter Randall, Danie van Zyl, and Beyers Naudé. On second glance, you’ll…
On Artists, Resistance, & Worker Owned Cooperatives: An interview with Ezgi Bakcay
June 20, 2016
While on a trip to Istanbul last December, I spoke with Ezgi Bakcay, a curator and member of Karşı Sanat, a local artist run space and cooperative. She told…
How To: Screenprinting with Dried Plants
June 14, 2016
This spring I hammered out a fun and fairly experimental print, one where I wouldn’t actually draw much of anything and mostly relied on dried flowers and leaves to create…
Benefit for the Parents of the Ayotzinapa 43
May 31, 2016
The abduction in 2014 of 43 students from the Ayotzinapa teacher training college in Guerrero, Mexico continues unsolved, as evidence mounts of government complicity and even coordination of the disappearances….
Hidden Forces: The Kansas People’s History Project
May 26, 2016
I’m excited to be headed to Lawrence, KS tomorrow to talk at the launch of the Kansas People’s History Project, a new poster endeavor loosely modeled on my Celebrate People’s…
The Crisis of Democracy from subMedia.tv
May 25, 2016
The latest It’s The End Of The World As We Know It And I Feel Fine from subMedia.tv. This week we take a look at the economic and political crisis…
Aniibiishaaboo miinawaa Makade-mshkikiwaaboo
May 16, 2016
Over the last few years, life seems to have gotten the best of me. While I have been quite busy on artistic and community-based projects, as well as teaching and…
236: Editorial Pueblo y Educación
May 16, 2016
This week we find ourselves a decent distance from Ben Shahn. We’re looking at Cuba, actually, and in particular a really beautiful set of saddle-stitched publications put out by Editorial…
SOLASTALGIA: a queer eco-feminist poetry tour
May 6, 2016
Justseeds member Jess X. Chen, and Diné artist Demian Dineyazhi, are going on an eco-feminist poetry tour across America between May 5-May 17th 2016! Stops include: Los Angeles, Tucson, Gallup,…
Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar- call for submissions
March 15, 2016
Call for art and article submissions: Sustaining Movements The Certain Days: Freedom for Political Prisoners Calendar collective (www.certaindays.org) is releasing its 16th calendar in the Fall of 2016. Over the…
On Resource Wars: An Interview with Kevin Basl
March 14, 2016
Halliburton convoys in western Iraq. Halliburton convoys in western Pennsylvania. —Iraq War veteran and Pennsylvania citizen, Kevin Basl As part of the Lycoming College Spring Symposium on Veteran Issues, I…
read the writing on the wall – 27
March 4, 2016
San Ignacio, Belize. February 2016. Knowledge Kills HIV. These will not transmit HIV, Mosquito, Shower. These will transmit HIV, razor blade, needle. AIDS does not discriminate, Why do we? I…
CPH poster exhibition up at UConn
February 23, 2016
The University of Connecticut recently acquired a complete set of the Celebrate People’s History Posters, and already has them on display! They’re up at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center…
We Be Darker Than Blue Mural
February 20, 2016
We Be Darker Then Blue, a mural by Chip Thomas (Jetsonorama) and Jess X. Chen This mural, installed at the BRIC art space in NYC, portrays a poetic sisterhood spanning…
Help bring Palestinian Libraries to this year’s ALA Conference
February 19, 2016
Librarians and Archivists With Palestine (LAP) is co-sponsoring a panel on Palestinian libraries at this year’s American Library Association (ALA) conference in Orlando, Florida June 23-28 2016. They are working…
New Project from Jamaa Al-Yad
February 17, 2016
Our friend Jamaa Al-Yad in Beirut just launched a new project: “Boycott, Divest, Sanction: On Campus” Originally designed for a campaign at the American University of Beirut, they’ve uploaded…
229: Small Press Africa, part V
February 15, 2016
This week we’re still in East Africa, with a focus on the dual publishers East African Literature Bureau and Kenya Literature Bureau. In an interesting turn, the Kenya Literature Bureau…
228: Small Press Africa, part IV
February 8, 2016
The undisputed center of publishing in East Africa is Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Kenya is home to the majority of the regions presses, and was a key center for…
Help RAMPS Put Down Roots
February 7, 2016
One of the organizations, RAMPS, represented in our new portfolio We Are the Storm is fundraising to continue their efforts. Check out their campaign, support if you’re able, share cos…
Audio Interference – A new podcast series from Interference Archive
February 5, 2016
Audio Interference is a podcast by Interference Archive in Brooklyn, NY, a volunteer-run archive of material culture produced in social movements. Interested in the capacity of audio to capture oral…
Rethinking Sexism, Gender, and Sexuality
February 2, 2016
Justseeds is a big fan of Rethinking Schools. The long-running organization has been a go-to resource for educators who merge teaching with a social justice mission. The Rethinking Schools magazine…
Our Comics, Ourselves opens Thursday, Jan. 21st
January 18, 2016
Here’s a teaser video for the upcoming exhibition at Interference Archive! Our Comics, Ourselves: Identity, Expression, and Representation in Comic Art January 21—April 17, 2016 Opening January 21st, 7–10pm Interference…
226: Small Press Africa, part II
January 4, 2016
Last install (here) I shared five covers from books published by small African presses. Turns out my collection is a little bigger than I thought, with way more books than…
225: Small Press Africa, part I
December 21, 2015
One of the things I’ve always got an eye out for are books published on small presses in Africa. It’s shocking how little about Africa makes into mainstream U.S. consciousness…
Rest in Power—John Trudell
December 15, 2015
John Trudell, a poet, recording artist, actor and speaker, passed away on December 8th. Trudell (Santee Sioux) was a spokesperson for the Indians of All Tribes occupation of Alcatraz Island…
Join Justseeds CSA Dec 1-7th and get a $15 gift card!
December 1, 2015
It’s not too late to sign up for a Justseeds Community Supported Art membership for 2016! CSA members will have three freshly designed prints on the theme of Love and Justice…
Endangered Species Mural #4: Watercress Darter
November 25, 2015
I’m just returned from Birmingham, Alabama, upon completion of the fourth Endangered Species Mural, this one featuring the Watercress Darter. The darter is a very small, brightly colored fish that…
Community Supported Art: a powerful way to show your support for Justseeds
November 23, 2015
In 2015 we successfully launched our first Print of the Month club, in which club members received one print a month from a different Justseeds artist. Artists and supporters were…
Iraq Veterans Against the War: Drop the MIC & Save the VA
November 18, 2015
In the midst of what appears to be growing global violence Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) has shifted focus from ending specific wars to ending the rise of U.S. militarism and…
Interference Archive Art & Ephemera Auction!
November 18, 2015
Interference Archive is having their first big benefit event this Friday (see HERE), and as a part of it, they are running an art and ephemera auction. 32 pieces are…
Subscribe now to Justseeds Community Supported Art for 2016!
Art & Politics, In the News, Inspiration, Justseeds Group Projects, Justseeds Member Projects, Posters & Prints
November 16, 2015
Everyone knows that art is an engine that drives transformation. The art we look at reminds us that other people feel like we do, and gives us something to believe…
All of Us or None: Response & Resistance to Militarism
August 20, 2015
The American Friends Service Committee has been putting together cool traveling exhibitions of political posters (often in concert with the Center for the Study of Political Graphics) over the past…
CPH : IVAW in SF August 13th
July 26, 2015
Celebrate People’s History: Iraq Veterans Against the War Ten years of fighting for peace & justice One Night Only! Thursday August 13th, 2015 6PM – 10PM Mullowney Printing 931 Treat…
We’re All In This Together Mural
May 17, 2015
A couple weeks back Chris Stain and I (Josh MacPhee) painted a new mural at Houston and 2nd Ave. in Manhattan for Lower East Side History Month. It was great…
Impeach Freights/Graf 36
April 7, 2015
“Knowledge is King.”
Rad Post-Teen Print of the Week: Palm Oil
March 4, 2015
After a long hiatus, I am reviving my Rad Teen Print of the Week series as Rad Post-Teen Print of the Week, to share the amazing work from university students and other post-teens that I’ve been working with here in Toronto. I first forayed into this zone a few years ago with Lauren Jurysta’s Free Pussy Riot silkscreen.
213: Latin America Mass Markets
February 23, 2015
This past weekend was the big annual church book sale in my neighborhood, and I found some great books, including a mini-collection of mass market paperbacks from the 1960s about…
Impeach Freights/Graf 29
February 10, 2015
Thank You Snowden!
212: Spro-Cas
February 9, 2015
Back to Africa this week. I’ve got a massive backlog of African publishers I want to cover, but tracking down information about them is often difficult, as most no longer…
Shahn and Bryson Post Office Murals, The Bronx
January 22, 2015
Last summer I was in lower Manhattan and had 6 hours to kill before a meeting Washington Heights. l took the opportunity to visit the Ben Shahn and Bernarda Bryson…
208: Zimbabwe Publishing House
January 5, 2015
As many of you know, I’m a big collector of African paperbacks (and ones about Africa), and I’ve been slowing featuring different presses here on the blog. Past features include:…
History From Below @ Sidewall (Pittsburgh)
December 17, 2014
For a couple weeks in November, I hammered out a four by eight foot version of my “Teach History From Below” print (from our Liberating Learning Portfolio) for the Sidewall…
204: Three Crowns Africa
December 1, 2014
There were three major British publishers which began putting out books by African authors in the late 1950s and early 1960s, especially to the educational book market. The big two…
Open House at the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum
November 24, 2014
Since this past spring, I’ve been honored to be working with a group of folks down in Southern West Virginia to launch an exciting people’s history project: The West…
203: Leonard Baskin, part II
November 24, 2014
The second half of Leonard Baskin’s book cover output I’ve found is composed of facial portraits. The portrait of Kafka to the right is exceptional. The picture feels like it…
One Book, Many Communities: Mornings in Jenin
November 4, 2014
This winter, join Librarians and Archivists with Palestine for an exciting international reading campaign: “One Book, Many Communities: Mornings in Jenin.” The project draws inspiration from the “one book, one…
200: Two Hundred!!!
November 3, 2014
The first “Judging Books by Their Covers” post was on April 12, 2010. Four and half years and over 2,000 book covers later, I’ve reached the two hundred post mark….
199: stage 1
October 27, 2014
In honor of my upcoming trip to London, I thought I’d do a feature on a little known lefty publisher from the UK. For awhile now I’ve been running into…
198: New Century Publishers, part III
October 20, 2014
Back in 2011 I published a couple posts looking at the covers of New Century Publishers, a Communist Party-run press that published from the 1940s into the 1960s, and appears…
197: Ghana Publishing House
October 13, 2014
For the past decade I’ve slowly been collecting all kinds of paperbacks published about and within Africa. Last year at the Haunted Bookshop in Iowa City I ran across a…
188: Foreign Languages Press, part III
August 11, 2014
Here’s my final entry in the Foreign Languages Press series (not that there aren’t plenty more books put out by FLP—thousands, actually). You can see the other posts HERE. I…
Making a Celebrate People’s History Poster: The Luddites
July 18, 2014
Last autumn, I finished up a design for a new poster in the Celebrate People’s History series, and it’s just now hot off the presses (you can get it here)!…
182: The Golden Fleece
June 30, 2014
I’ve got a lot of longer-format book cover series in the works for the blog, but they are taking much longer than the one-week chunks I have been trying to…
180: Dover Science, part III
June 2, 2014
This week’s covers are from Dover Math books I’ve found over the past six months at Book Thug Nation bookstore. You can see the last two posts about Dover books…
179: Dover Science, part II
May 26, 2014
I keep running into more and more cool covers on Dover books about science and math (and some art…) from the 1950s/60s. I first looked at these almost a year…
Shifting Baselines on the Lomami
April 19, 2014
I wrote a new post for the blog about my Congo trip today, covering a conversation I had with the chief of the tiny and isolated village of Lole about…
Camoutopia in Process
March 28, 2014
I’ve been busily printing and pasting and organizing away on my MFA thesis show for Ontario College of Art and Design University. The 60-page written paper is in, now for…
Lomami Drama
March 22, 2014
For the last six weeks or so, I’ve been in the Democratic Republic of Congo, volunteering with a project that is trying to develop a new national park in the…
My first book shield…
December 17, 2013
I’m excited that (as far as I know…) my first book cover design has been converted into a book shield for a book bloc! A big cardboard copy of George…
Help Save Food for Thought Bookstore
December 13, 2013
We here at Justseeds use the web to sell our work, but we also try very hard to find brick and mortar stores that are willing to take a chance…
What Happened in Grenada in 1983?
October 23, 2013
Bill Bigelow, co-director of the Zinn Education Project, has another quick and lucid history lesson up. This week, identifying yet another sore gap in our popular history textbooks, he’s illustrating…
158: Bogle L’Ouverture, part I
October 21, 2013
I first encountered Bogle-L’Overture Publications almost twenty years ago. Outside of Boston their is a strange bookstore called the New England Mobile Bookfair. Neither mobile nor a book fair, it…
152: On The Poverty of Student Life
August 26, 2013
While rooting around Interference Archive looking for student movement books over the past couple weeks, I pulled out a whole set of different editions of what might be the most…
151: Students on the Move, Part II
August 19, 2013
Last week I looked at the phenomena of 1960s and 70s mass-market paperback publishers trying to cash in on interest in the giant student movement in the United States at…
150: Students on the Move, Part I
August 12, 2013
The last handful of years have seen an explosion in student organizing, here in the States, but also across the world, with hot spots in the UK, Austria, Sudan, and…
In Palestine pt.22
July 23, 2013
In Aida Refugee Camp there is a long mural dedicated to political prisoners, comprised of simple back and white paintings of a row of prisoners twelve prisoners. So very…
149: Arabic Spines
July 22, 2013
While in Palestine I visited over a dozen libraries and archives, and got to take a look at an entire world of books that was previously unknown to me. One…
In Palestine pt.20
July 18, 2013
There isn’t just graffiti on the walls here. In many places, particularly refugee camps, there are also murals. Some are made with naive charm, some professional skill, and few…
In Palestine pt.5
June 28, 2013
As many of you know, I’m completely infatuated with books, and book design. Being here in Palestine visiting libraries is a bit like being in a candy shop, with an…
In Palestine pt.1
June 23, 2013
Molly and I (Josh) are in Palestine for two weeks as part of a librarians and archivists solidarity trip. Today was our first day, and we visited a half dozen…
Impeach Freights/Graf 1
May 21, 2013
Midwest political graffiti powerhouse and freight train aficionado Impeach has been sending in stacks of photos of recent work. I’ve finally sorted, cleaned, and am starting to post them. I…
Book Blocs/Interference Archive in the news
May 2, 2013
In the past two days both the New York Times and the New Yorker have featured the book bloc exhibition at Interference Archive, with a focus on the book shields…
New Website for Interference Archive
February 21, 2013
We’re excited to have just launched a new website for Interference Archive! To celebrate, we’ve got a guest post from Sean Stewart (of the amazing Babylon Falling website and author…
Aujourd’hui pour moi demain pour toi/Today for me tomorrow for you
February 12, 2013
Our comrades in Quebec are working on a film about the Ecole de la Montagne Rouge, a graphics collective that formed during the student strike last year. They are fundraising…
Zinn Education Project Keeps Getting Better!
January 1, 2013
I’ve been enjoying the teaching materials and modus operandi of the Zinn Education Project ever since I discovered them back when we were working on the Firebrands book. These days…
New writing by Cindy Milstein
October 22, 2012
The following essay was written for the anthology Revolutionary Love Letters (Minor Compositions, forthcoming in 2013), edited by Jamie Heckert, who kindly and lovingly gave me permission to share it…
Sewing Freedom
October 14, 2012
Jared Davidson (from Garage Collective, and designer of the Red Feds Celebrate People’s History poster) just put out a great looking new book on anarchism in NZ called Sewing Freedom….
Meredith Stern’s image for “This is an Emergency!”
October 11, 2012
This print is from “This is an Emergency!” a print portfolio on gender justice and reproductive rights. To purchase a copy, you can click HERE. To check out the tumblr…
Rad Teen Print of the Week: GSA
October 10, 2012
I haven’t worked with teens in a few months, but my tireless totally teen education life partner, Heather White, passed this poster design along to me, from Libby at CAPA….
Chicago Teachers Strike – Day One
September 10, 2012
The rubbish and anti-teacher statements from Rahm Emanuel is becoming hard to stomach. No wonder Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney is standing in support with him. And go figure –…
Interview with Judy Kashoff by Meredith Stern
August 18, 2012
This interview is printed in the hand sewn zine of “This is an Emergency!” a print portfolio on gender justice and reproductive rights. To purchase a copy, you can click…
Carré Rouge!
August 12, 2012
While installing their exhibition at Interference Archive, it came out that one of the members of the Ècole de la Montagne Rouge is the singer in a punk band, called…
Monotype workshop at Anderson Ranch with Enrique Chagoya
August 9, 2012
After ten years of teaching college art I decided to experience life from the other side – as a student, a much better side I might add. Favianna Rodriguez’s inspiring…
Ècole de la Montagne Rouge at Interference promo video!
August 8, 2012
110: Frantz Fanon, part X
July 16, 2012
Here is the final post in this long-running Fanon series. Thanks to all that have been with me for the entire ride! You can see all the covers (133 different…
Seeing Red
July 11, 2012
The Red Square is the symbol of Maple Spring and the student movement currently happening in Quebec. Justseeds comrade Cindy Milstein has an obsession with documenting the red squares of…
The Sky Is Pink: Josh Fox on Fracking
June 28, 2012
THE SKY IS PINK by Josh Fox and the GASLAND Team from JFOX on Vimeo. Josh Fox (dir. Gasland) has a new video on hydrofracking and media/industry propaganda, “The Sky…
Guest Blog/Cindy Milstein: Red Streets, Red Art, Montreal, Night 44
June 14, 2012
Today we have a guest blog from Cindy Milstein, who has been spending considerable time up in Montreal participating in the “Maple Spring/Summer” and writing a lot about it. Her…
Casseroles – Montréal, 24 Mai 2012
May 26, 2012
A beautiful video that isn’t selling ANYthing! It’s message is stronger than any advertisement.
Red Square Revolt- Quebec Students on Strike
May 24, 2012
Student Debt Graphics
May 22, 2012
One of the great myths in the US is that public education should be expensive. In most Western European countries tuition at public universities is free or close to it….
Ecole de la Montagne Rouge
May 20, 2012
Ecole de la Montagne Rouge (School for Red Mountain) is a group of graphic design students producing work for the student strikes currently happening in Montreal. Their designs and methods…
Adam Curtis Takes Aim at Yoga
March 28, 2012
Adam Curtis, of Power of Nightmares fame, has a new long-read post up on his blog that is sure to rile many: he suggests that the modern yoga craze finds…
Must Get Book! Art and Social Justice Education: Culture as Commons
February 7, 2012
Every blue moon a truly exceptional book on art and activism is released. The latest one is Art and Social Justice Education: Culture as Commons edited by Therese Quinn, John…
Hundred Story House
February 3, 2012
Leon Reid IV, intelligent street artist (yes, it’s sad, but you do have to distinguish these days…) and cohort of Justseeds’ Chris Stain, is working on a new project called…
86: Boni Paper Books, Part II
November 28, 2011
Here is part two of my series on the early American paperback experiment known as Boni Paper Book. To read the back story, and see the first four books I…
Dept. of Space & Land Reclamation Interview
November 11, 2011
My friend Daniel Tucker is working on a new research project about art and activism called “Never the Same: Conversations About Art Transforming Politics & Community in Chicago & Beyond.”…
80: New Anarchist Review
October 17, 2011
About three years back I bought a small collection of cheap, but relatively handsome, UK Anarchist pamphlets under the title New Anarchist Review. They stretched from 1984 into the early…
6th Annual Benefit Book Sale for Daniel McGowan
August 30, 2011
6th Annual Benefit Book Sale for Daniel McGowan Sunday, September 18th, 2011, 11am to 7pm, Bedford Avenue at North 6th Street in Brooklyn This just in from Family &…
Taylor Sparrow needs our help
February 8, 2011
Taylor Sparrow, a good friend of Justseeds, and the author of the introduction to our book Firebrands, is working on a new project. He’s trying to publish a new book…
38: Medu Art Ensemble Newsletter
December 27, 2010
In 1978, just across the border from South Africa in Gabarone, a group of exiled South Africans formed the Medu Art Ensemble. Medu became an armed cultural wing of the…
29: Spanish Civil War Publications
October 25, 2010
A couple years back I was checking out a Robert Capa exhibition at the International Center for Photography in NYC and they had a small backroom with an auxiliary exhibition…
26: Action
October 4, 2010
Let’s stay in France this week, and check out the covers of Action, the newspaper developed by the Comités d’ Action during May 68. The first Comités were developed as…
22: Radical America
September 6, 2010
Here’s another installment of covers of a periodical, this time Radical America, which began as an organ of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) in 1967, and then ran into…
21: The Drama Review
August 30, 2010
Back at the end of June I was in Toronto, strangely at an academic performance art conference to talk about the Spectres of Liberty project, and their was a table…
Signal 01 is out!
August 6, 2010
The first issue of Signal is out now published by PM Press. Signal is a full color, 140 page book about international political art, graphics, and culture. The first issue…
A Brief History of Charles H. Kerr
July 20, 2010
For the book lovers out there, check out John Duda and Kate Khatib’s great history of Charles H. Kerr, the oldest left publisher in the US! It’s published by AREA…
Firebrands: Portraits from the Americas is now available!
June 1, 2010
We’re very excited to announce the arrival of our first collectively realized book, Firebrands: Portraits from the Americas, on Microcosm Publishing. The book consists of illustrated profiles of 78 courageous…
LIST: Best 12 Books I Read in 2009
March 8, 2010
I’ve been trying to organize some of us Justseed-ers to start posting top ten lists of various things, I’ve always thought they were fun to both write and read. To…
Norway or the Highway 1
November 20, 2009
For the past week Chris Stain and I have been living, working, and teaching on a small island in Norway called Halsnøy! We’re at the Sunnhordland Folkehøgskule (a small arts…
Two Justseeds Group Shows opening Thursday night
November 5, 2009
Justseeds has two art shows in Portland, OR this Thursday. The first one is at Sea Change Gallery, which is in the Everett Street Lofts in Old Town. That show…
LISTS: Twenty Poster Books of Note
September 16, 2009
I was making out a list of books for a friend, and realized I could share it with all our blog readers. For those that don’t know, I’m both a…
Review of Justseeds Print Show in Arizona
August 29, 2009
The Way it Was By Justyn Dillingham You might not know it to look at that small, trim-looking white building next to the School of Art, but inside those walls,…
books! Books! BOOKS!
June 29, 2009
I love books, the feel of them, the way they are made, how the spines bend and crack, and all of the amazing ideas and images that can fly out…
Printing with Pittsburgh Teens!
May 1, 2009
This week saw the culmination of a project I’ve been working on the last couple of months alongside Mary Tremonte (also of Justseeds), Pittsburgh artist (and beekeeper) Ashley Brickman, and…
The Cherokee Writing System
February 18, 2009
I wanted to announce the release of a new Celebrate People’s History poster! The Cherokee Writing System was designed by Frank Brannon, Jr., who runs his own letterpress studio SpeakEasy…
New Student of an Old Technique
December 16, 2008
This winter I’ve started learning the nearly-lost art of typesetting and letterpress printing with friend and cohort Artnoose. I have a lot of ideas relative to my current video work…
The Biggest Middle Finger
December 1, 2008
Here’s some photos of a poster a friend made about the CUNY budget cuts. “There’s only one thing left to do…STOP THE BUDGET CUTS!” From what I hear …the big…
Festival of the New Winds pt. 1
October 26, 2008
Two months ago or so, Favianna Rodriguez (co-editor of Reproduce & Revolt) asked me if I wanted to take a trip to Mexico City with a crew of artists. My…
Never Forget-8/6/1945 & 8/9/1945
August 7, 2008
Yesterday, August 6th, 2008 marks the 63 years since the United States military dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Each year I can help but personally commemorate all the…
Trip to Bethlehem (Swoon)
April 29, 2008
Last winter I was able to travel to Palestine with the Santa’s Ghetto project, put together by Banksy and the folks at P.O.W. The project consisted of a show, on…
VR Zine now online
May 15, 2005
Some Visual Resistance members put together a zine a few months back on the “how-to’s” of street art techniques. The zine is meant to provide folks with basic information on…