We are excited to share that the next Arts of Resistance, Arts of Connection talk will feature Lauren Holloway, a Seattle-based metal, paint, apparel, and mixed media artist. She is a long-time teaching artist and nearly four years ago founded the Art of Resistance & Resilience club at Franklin High School that she advises and provides art instruction.
“It’s hard enough to see the news yourself, but then you go to a high school the next day and see a student body full of immigrants, students of color, queer students,” says Lauren Holloway, a teacher and teaching artist at Franklin High School. “They’re all on the front lines, and you see their faces, and it’s just…” she trails off, shaking her head. “I was like, OK, this is a call to action. I need to do more. But what does more look like, you know?”
Some of the notable projects the club has produced with her guidance and participation include a Seattle Chapter Black Panther Party tribute mural that measured 6 foot by 40 foot, a multipanel mural of Seattle’s Black Panther Party. In total, 26 students worked on the mural with help from local artists Henry Luke, Yoona Lee and Angelina Tolentino. Most recently she helped with a Marsh P Johnson & Adé A Cônnére tribute mural.
“Adults in this city need to see intersectional power happening with young people,” Holloway says. “And the way that young people came together for this mural, they killed it in a way that I don’t really see a lot of adults doing, you know? I’m like, y’all take the lead and show the adults how it’s done.”
The talk is part of “The Arts of Resistance, Arts of Connection” lecture series has been developed as a way to resurrect and resume the energy and activity from Art of Resistance, a pair of national art and activism conferences held in Seattle in 2004 and 2005. In each talk, an artist/activist discusses their work, exploring lessons learned about what they do and why and how they do it. Each talk is followed by a Q and A session.
Next up: Lauren Holloway
Sunday, July 26 12 noon to 1 PM, on Zoom. If you’re interested in attending, email Beverley at: bnaidus@uw.edu
A Season of Talks
- Sunday, August 30, noon: performance artist, poet, and global agitator Anida Youe Ali (tentative).
- Sunday, September 27, noon: Peter and Elka Schumann, Bread and Puppet Theater
- Sunday, October 25, noon: Radical Futurism, AfroFuturism (speakers TBD)
Earlier Talks
You can find earlier talks in this series. They’ve been hugely valuable. (Note: these are rough, unedited Zoom videos.)
- Charles Frederick—Charles spoke about the activist art that emerged from the AIDS crisis.
- Chrissie Orr—Chrissie discussed her community-based art projects dealing with food policies and ecological issues.
- Roll forward to 2:26 for the welcome.
- Saiyare Refaei—Saiyare discussed local cultural activism in relation to immigration issues and the Northwest Detention Center.
