C Drew - Street Artist Adventures

ROBERT WAPAHI Art Patch Loose in the Land

Untitled (Woman waving a fan) by Robert Wapahi

Artists Give Chicago an Ultimatum,

Chicago Artists from the Free Speech Artists’ Movement have given the City of Chicago an ultimatum to exempt artists from the peddlers license or go to court over the artists’ First Amendment right to sell their art on the public sidewalks and in the parks of Chicago. The artists of the Free Speech Artists’ Movement (Free S.A.M.) say the City writes broad laws claiming to control traffic on sidewalks that impact their speech rights enormously. The artists point out First Amendment case law demands narrow laws whenever writing laws that limit First Amendment protected speech. Free S.A.M. artists claim their art is protected speech. They are willing to fight for their right to survive in Chicago.

In Chicago, homeless persons have won the right to panhandle in the Loop based on their protected First Amendment right to free speech. But a homeless person, if he is an artist, can’t ask you for the same dollar for a portrait on a paper plate because he has lost his speech right to do so. Jobless artists also miss this speech right. Street artists are criminalized in Chicago. Their rights are legislated away. World famous, Lee Godi, who made her mark selling her paintings around the steps of the Art Institute, under today’s laws, would be jailed and never be able to become known.

Art fairs, neighborhood festivals and especially the closed gallery scenes of Chicago are not viable alternatives to the right to sell your art on the street, where you are able to meet directly with your audience on a daily basis. With their freedom to sell in public, artists can create open-air art markets with poetry and song in Chicago. More tourists and more artists would be attracted to Chicago. Our economy would grow.

The Free Speech Artists’ Movement is producing the Art Patch Project to use the art of a growing number of Chicago-based artists to educate the public about artists rights to sell art openly. Artists are giving art patches away in locations wherever art sales are prohibited in public. Art-patch activist, C. Drew expects to build the Art Patch Project for as many years as it takes to change Chicago – to make Chicago friendly to artists.

The first exhibit of art patches submitted will be at the annual “T-shirt Art Harvest Festival”, September 25-27, at the American Indian Center, 1630 W. Wilson. “This exhibit will grow and these Art Patches will travel the world before they rest,” community art organizer C. Drew boasts. “Because,”he says, “the patches promote each artist and also fight for artists’ rights. It is a win-win situation for artists.” Visit art-teez.org/free-speech.htm for more info and to submit art to the Art Patch Project. Or read c-drew.com/blog to follow Movement adventures.

Chicago must showcase its local artists and be a friendly place for artists to locate to compete in a global theater with other cities for tourism. The City wins when it supports its artists because it becomes an artist magnet that will make Chicago able to compete with other world class cities. Increased art activity strengthens the local economy. Artists need their right to sell their art to survive. Chicago must flower culturally. This is why a copy of this press release has been e-mailed to all 50 Chicago Aldermen with a request for them to propose and pass legislation to exempt all Chicago artists from the peddlers license requirement. We want our speech rights back.

ARTISTS BATTLE ON IN ST AUGUSTINE FLORIDA

The battle for artists’ speech rights in St. Augustine, Florida continues. I posted the case of Celli vs the City of St. Augustine, Florida on my blog and in e-mails on this list. A Chicago artist back from St. Augustine reported early last year that that winning case had been reversed by the City simply by passing an amended law again denying artists their rights. His tone was depressed and hopeless. I claimed the case still set a good precedent and that artists need to continually fight for their rights. Well, the artists in St. Augustine are doing just that and the blog linked above lists their actions, their successes and their high level discussions of related First Amendment issues.

Two women abandon their car and dance in the street during the Chicago Critical Mass bike ride Friday, 5/29/09.

Riding down Milwaukee Avenue and she is out of her car dancing photo one

Remember we are organizing at the monthly Critical Mass ride. The May Critical Mass ride was fun. How many of you went on it? The photos I took are on my website.

We will be organizing to find more volunteers to help us put our free speech message in front of June’s Critical Mass riders. If you can help for one hour from 5:00-6:00 on Friday, June 26th please e-mail me at umcac@art-teez.org and put “volunteer” in the subject. Include your phone number in the body of the letter so we can contact you with more info.

Child smiles at bike riders as the Critical Mass rides through the Pilsen neighborhood.

Riding through Pilsen a child watching perched on a car smiles.

We are discussing how and when to initiate legal proceedings against the City for violating our rights to sell our art in Chicago. I set out our case against the City in my blog in my most recent post

“ Artropolis and the Street Art Fight in Chicago “ If you want to be able to argue well on the issue of artists’ rights to sell speech in public this blog post will help you out. Read this and talk up this vital issue.

Volunteers Needed

We need volunteers to collect the names and e-mail addresses of artists you meet in art fairs and neighborhood festivals to be added to this mailing list. When you go out this summer on weekends take a pencil or pen and collect artists info and e-mail it to us.

We need help on Sundays 3-6pm at 1630 W. Wilson Avenue, 773/561-7676 or umcac@art-teez.org, to print art-patches.

Help us - submit a design to the Art Patch Project.
We need help distributing fliers for our T-shirt Art Harvest Festival this September 25-27th where we will feature all the art-patches submitted by that date. Get involved even if it is only one hour a month. You can do this. Do it to fight for freedom here at home for at least one hour a month. Just one hour. One hour … umcac@art-teez.org

Enjoy
chris d