C Drew - Street Artist Adventures

On Mother’s Day the volunteers on the left helped to tear and cut cotton sheets into patches for the Patch Art Project.

I am back from visiting my 90 year-old mother who just celebrated her birthday (1919). May she live to be 100 or more.

She wishes us luck and fun effort in gaining full freedom for artists in Chicago.

This Sunday we will print and prepare patches for our next ART-ACTION at the coming Critical Mass ride that meets at Daley Plaza at 5:00 on May 29. We are still light on volunteers. Reply to this e-mail if you can help or just come to the American Indian Center at 1630 W. Wilson this Sunday from 3-6pm.

The City Council is considering taking even more speech rights away from Chicago’s street musicians.

We need to build bridges with the musicians who are fighting for their speech rights in Chicago. It is the same fight but they hang us separately.

In New York members of A.R.T.I.S.T. are waging a strong response to an attempt there to take their rights they won away. They have built a strong organization and are fully able to take on the enormous power and money of the New York Times and ALL their wealthy allies.

They are a fine example of what determined artists are capable of. You can be that powerful too. When you decide to defend your speech rights in America you have a friend in the First Amendment. When you do not care you have no more power than a mouse. The decision is yours. Roar or weep.

E-mail us a new design today for the patch art project in a 300 dpi graphic file include your website or e-mail, your name, your design’s title and we will promote your art and your contact info in the Patch Art Project. You can help win-win-win-win. Win by promoting your art. Win by fighting for your freedom to sell you art on the street. Win by creating open-air art-scenes in Chicago. Win by increasing art awareness. Win-win-win-win….

*Florida law suit won by artist* - Celli v. City of St. Augustine, Florida - decided 2000. Since this time artists in St. Augustine have allowed the City to pass new restrictive laws without response and have lost some of their First Amendment rights. However, the court case Celli won is still a valid precedent for us to use as needed. Eternal vigilance is needed to maintain your speech rights because powerful interests are ever ready to pass new local laws that impact your rights. You need only read into the many messages of the second link below to learn how New York City artists have resisted the attempts to take their rights and, thereby, their livelihoods away. The same tricks may be used by our opposition. Whooh - look for new news from Florida. Artists there have taken the fight further and have won a second ruling. If you fight you win. If you do not they kick you around!

Weinberg v. City of Chicago (when all the National Sports Leagues joined with the City to appeal and lost when the Supreme Court refused to hear their appeal.) Weinberg - the Chicago author - won.
http://www.ahcuah.com/lawsuit/federal/weinberg1.htm

*NY Artist and Organizer* - Robert Lederman, president of A.R.T.I.S.T.,
or Artists’ Response to Illegal State Tactics – This Yahoo Groups page links to ten years of messages about all the New York City actions and court cases over the years.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NYCStreetArtists/

NYC Street Artist Freedom Videos
Check out these videos about how NYC artists won our rights in NYC see:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=artistpres