ARRT! Update – Winter 2022 - The Maine Arts Journal: The UMVA Quarterly

ARRT! The Artists’ Rapid Response Team (ARRT!) is a project of the Union of Maine Visual Artists. The ARRTists are members of the UMVA who collaborate with progressive organizations throughout Maine to create “visual soundbites,” frequently in the form of banners, to be used to draw attention to important issues. ARRT! is grateful for the support of the UMVA and the Broad Reach Fund of the Maine Community Foundation.

The Fall of 2021 has been a bumpy road. We Americans have stumbled around the many phases of COVID-19, along with serious threats to our democratic process, social justice inequities, school shootings, environmental and weather disasters, just to name a few. Our trust in one another as a nation has frayed severely. ARRTists continue to come together. For many of us, it is a way to find balance during turbulent times. Our concerns become motivation to use our skills to create a brighter future. Collaboration nourishes us as well.

ARRT banner supporting justice for migrant workers.

We have joined with a number of Mainers, Maine organizations, and groups to respond to a variety of issues. The slide show below tells the story. A couple of us also did some activism-in-art mentoring through Zoom with 7th graders at King Middle School in Portland and their art teacher, Ms. Maloney.

Milk with Dignity campaign march with ARRT! banner.
Milk with Dignity campaign march with ARRT! banner.
Milk with Dignity campaign march with ARRT! banner.
Activists with ARRT! banner at BIW christening.
Activists putting ARRT! banners to use at BIW christening.
Activists putting ARRT! banners to use at BIW christening.
Medicare For ALL ARRT! banner in use at Bangor rally.
ARRT! banner in Hallowell with Multicultural Center supporters.
ARRT! banner for the Hallowell Multicultural Center.
ARRTists at work in Bowdoinham.
ARRT! placard supporting the initiative for consumer owned Maine utilities.
ARRT! banner supporting the initiative for consumer owned Maine utilities.
ARRT! placard supporting the initiative for consumer owned Maine utilities.
ARRT! placard supporting the initiative for consumer owned Maine utilities.
ARRT! placard supporting the initiative for consumer owned Maine utilities.
ARRT! placard supporting the initiative for consumer owned Maine utilities.
ARRT! painting session.
ARRT! placards supporting the initiative for consumer owned Maine utilities.
ARRT! banner image circulating on Twitter.
ARRT! banner supporting demilitarizing neighborhoods.
ARRT! Presente! banner in use.
ARRT! banners at a women's rally in Brunswick in October.
ARRT! banner in support of protecting the aquifer in Pembroke, ME.
ARRT! banner in support of protecting the aquifer in Pembroke, ME.
ARRT! banner in support of protecting the aquifer in Pembroke, ME.
ARRT! banner in use by Maine Inside Out, an organization in which formerly incarcerated people lead efforts towards a more just society. https://www.maineinsideout.org