Text /Call Susan: 202.246.5336
Takoma Local Activism
Kids Political Action
"Unanticipated civics lesson"
"Unanticipated civics lesson"
While Susan's hometown of Baltimore was announcing a painted streets-and-sidewalks initiative, our little Takoma neighborhood covid project -- a movement sidewalk and native plant mural -- got declared grafitti and power-washed.
However, it revealed the need for a City process for future community art projects. And it energized young activists, who held a mayoral forum on issues about young people.
Now young people in Takoma have a chance to work with Mayor Searcy and a mostly-new Takoma Park city council, to formalize a community driven approach to art (and movement and nature ed) projects.
"Unanticipated civics lesson"
"Unanticipated civics lesson"
"Unanticipated civics lesson"
In summer 2021, I commissioned local teens to paint native plants on 50 feet of Lincoln Ave retaining wall. Its rainbow approach affirmed and reflected the artists, my own, and the neighborhood's queer-ness.
Why did my mural get power-washed when other people's retaining wall murals get to stay? I consider it professional art, after all I paid for it.
Here's my Medium piece about the graffiti rebellion, and another about the native plant mural. This editorial explains the controversy which happened after a dcist article and TV coverage of the sidewalk and mural last days of the fight. One of the TV reporters brilliantly got me to say that it was an "unanticipated civics lesson" (take the survey, left).