Bring Our War $$ Home 30 Day Care-a-Van Kicks Off

The Bring Our War $$ Home 30 day Care-a-Van kicked off a statewide tour with a t-shirt silkscreening workshop at WERU Community Radio's Maine Grassroots Media Conference at Unity College.

Organized by WERU's amazing Meaghan LaSala, the conference drew media heavies, organizers, and art makers from all around the state. Here Meaghan joins in CODEPINK's national Create Not Hate response to a decade of war and fear mongering.

Carolyn Coe, reporter from Gaza for WERU

Images made at Draw-a-thons previously held with the Union of Maine Visual Artists, as well as the CP "house" campaign logo, were available for the public to have printed onto a shirt of their choice. Artist/organizer Steve Burke headed up the production of about 50 shirts which will now help carry the BOW$H message out into the world.

CODEPINK Maine man Mark Roman assisting Steve as he prints the popular design "What's For Dinner?" by Mayers and Shetterly.

Panelists Rob Shetterly (Americans Who Tell the Truth), Tamar Etingen (West Athens 4th of July), me (Lisa Savage, CODEPINK Maine Local Coordinator) and Steve displayed and talked about political art and its power to inspire and communicate.

Tamar Etingen, creator of the"10 Years of War on Borrowed $$" enraged gorilla poster. Photo by Kaden.

Rob's portraits of art activist Natasha Mayers, playwright Eve Ensler, whistleblower Bradley Manning, and other truth tellers brought still more voices into the conversation.

Mark and I shared some of our personal collection of political art, including this amazing 9/11 piece by our artist friend James Fangbone.

Click on photo to enlarge.

Above: "The Quagmire" by Etingen; Left: Reclaimed Ship by Wally Warren; Right above "McChrystal Nacht" by Fangbone; Right below: "Blood for Oil" by Philip Savage.

Kaden got right into the spirit of the day, taking about a zillion photos and videos, and creating this beautiful design using T-shirt markers that says: No! War it is Bad.

The 30 Day Care-a-Van will conclude on October 9 with an event in Augusta featuring the Penobscot tribal drummers and Tribal Chief Kirk Francis. More information here on this month long series of events to Bring Our War $$ Home. More photos of the Care-a-van kickoff.