Live Screen Printing

Art & Activism

Screen printing for me, started as a way to intervene in an environment that was exclusionary. There was an anti-LGBTQ+ tabling event at my school, put on by some students. My friends and I were trying to grapple with what we were learning in our classes and how art has a natural intersection with activism.

In response we decided to put on our own affirming tabling event. A live screen printing pop up where we printed on participants’ own garments inviting them to learn how to screen print and to donate to local LGBTQ+ non-profits. Students would choose which design they wanted and we would screen print it right in front of them. Word spread fast and we printed over 300 shirts that day.

After the initial event a variety of groups on campus invited me to participate with new designs each time. It’s a process that’s started to gain momentum where I can respond to what I learn in my sociology minor through a medium that allows for an idea to be spread so quickly. These pictures are from a variety of events we have put on and we’re continually being asked to do more.