Extinction Rebellion Chicago
As Art Coordinator for Extinction Rebellion Chicago, I work alongside an amazing team to plan and coordinate actions, communication strategy, and partnerships—and help create the visual, aesthetic and conceptual elements which convey the urgency of the climate and ecological emergency—and the ethos with which we seek to confront this challenge. Banners, flags, costumes and other aesthetic strategies support successful marches, blockades and NVDAs (non-violent direct actions).
Some, like the origami boat project, build narrative over time. In this case, I designed the boats to be folded by youth and other participants during our Oct 7th Regenerative Culture Fair—an un-permitted gathering of hundreds in Daley Plaza. The paper boats formed a 'flotilla' around a 10 foot origami boat—echoing the boats which have showed up at XR blockades worldwide. Each paper boat was written on by its maker in response to a prompt from Great Thunberg's fall 2019 speech to the United Nations.
The responses will then inform streamers and banners used in further actions which continue the theme—and will eventually be folded flat and delivered to City Council, asking they listen to the voices of their city's people and declare a climate emergency.
• I spoke about XR and climate activism alongside activists from Sunrise Movement and Youth Climate Strike on NPR as a guest on WBEZ's Worldview
• Read an Op-Ed in the NYT on the Extinction Rebellion movement
• Join us in Chicago at xrchicago.org or @xrchicago on Instagram, reach out you your local group or start your own!