ARRT! Update – Fall 2025

ARRT! (The Artists’ Rapid Response Team!) works with progressive groups and organizations throughout Maine, providing images that can help to distill and clarify their important messages about issues that matter to people in Maine and the world beyond our borders. ARRT! is a project of the Union of Maine Visual Artists (UMVA), a members’ organization of artists helping artists.

As we move into fall, the daily accumulation of destructive sound bites, assaults on personal dignity, and human lives continue to mount. Most of us are filled with concern for our collective well being, our shared environment, and our nation’s democratic rule of law. ARRT!ists gather in communities, create together, and work to give voice and support to our neighbors here and across the globe.

The tiny town of Whitefield’s celebration of Independence Day exemplifies how every person can make a difference. Under the leadership of ARRT!ist and MAJ editor Natasha Mayers, residents and friends of Whitefield have paraded for forty years on the Fourth of July, boldly sharing their concern and outrage with the world, on issues that matter deeply to them, with artistry, humor, and camaraderie. The Whitefield parade was a major inspirational spark that helped ignite the Artists’ Rapid Response Team! Enjoy images below of the 2025 entry, “Is This What We Voted For?”:

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ARRT! banners and placards displayed by different organizations at the 2025 Common Ground Fair:

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Rallies, protests, marches, and gatherings flourished on roadsides, bridges, downtowns, and city streets everywhere in Maine during the summer of 2025.

Attacks on voting rights have spurred groups into action with the help of ARRT!’s many placards, life-size figures, mailbox props, and more.

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Our Power, an organization fighting for local control of utilities in Maine, is concerned about a proposed massive rate hike by CMP. A coalition is forming to ask the PUC to consider alternatives. ARRT! assisted them to create banners/signs for upcoming actions to raise awareness.

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ARRT!ists continue to share work with activists in the new ARRT chapter in New York (Artist Rapid Response Team NYC). Below is a collection of summer images of ARRT! work wheatpasted on urban streets and displayed in ad boxes in Brooklyn:

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Join us for the next gathering of ARRT! on 5 October in Bowdoinham. We gather from 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. at Merrymeeting Grange Hall, 27 Main Street. The Bowdoinham Historical Society is our host and the sign out front says “Merrymeeting Books.” We potluck lunch and provide coffee. Email mayersnatasha@gmail.com for more info or if you plan on coming.

The Artists’ Rapid Response Team (ARRT!) is a project of the Union of Maine Visual Artists (UMVA). ARRT! is grateful for the support of the UMVA and a donor-advised fund of the Maine Community Foundation. UMVA members and others are welcome to join in, and ARRT! is always on the lookout for organizations in need of our services. Check out our website and our Facebook page for updates! Visit our website to see hundreds of the banners, signs, and props we’ve made over the past twelve years.

Image at top: Whitefield Independence Day Parade float, “Is This What We Voted For?”