SOMOS VISIBLES / WE ARE NOT INVISIBLE S.F. POP-UP EVENT LABOR DAY WEEKEND: SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1-5PM
WITH ARTISTS ARLEENE CORREA VALENCIA + ANA TERESA FERNÁNDEZ AT THE LATINO COVID-19 HEALING + RECOVERY FAIR: SALUD ES PODER
With less than 5 weeks left to try to ensure our communities get their fair share of federal funding and political representation for the next 10 years, Art+Action brings artists Arleene Correa Valencia + Ana Teresa Fernández’ participatory SOMOS VISIBLES / WE ARE NOT INVISIBLE to the Labor Day weekend Latino COVID -19 Healing & Recovery Fair: Salud es Poder event on Sunday, September 6 from 1-5pm.
The artists’ ongoing project takes a political stance on visibility through the use of high-vis ready-to-wear safety gear present throughout many labor industries, as it relates to the invisibility of the undocumented in the United States—and being seen and heard by participating in the 2020 Census. While there is no citizenship question on the 2020 Census, many undocumented residents are still hesitant to be counted. To galvanize these communities to resist erasure and claim their fair share of resources, SOMOS VISIBLES—through the generous support of Levi's as part of Art+Action’s COME TO YOUR CENSUS campaign—engages in dialogue about how the Census impacts our most vulnerable, and gifts a free hoodie or t-shirt to those who complete the 2020 Census. Staff will be on hand with ipads and tablets to enable participants to take their Census.
Now more than ever, the Census is essential. It will help our communities recover from COVID-19, and thrive for the next decade—determining funding for public health coverage (Medicare, Medicaid, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program), healthcare (through grants to hospitals and clinics), and food assistance. Census participation is also one piece of the puzzle in righting the racial inequities in our country, by ensuring our most vulnerable and under-resourced communities are supported. The Labor Day community event Latino COVID-19 Healing & Recovery Fair - Salud es Poder (which runs both Saturday + Sunday from 12-5pm), will provide culturally relevant and free COVID-19 testing, health, education, employment, housing, food, and other resources to Latino residents hardest hit by the Coronavirus pandemic. Taking place at at John O'Connell High School on Harrison St. between 18th + 20th Streets, the program is presented in partnership with CANA-Carnaval San Francisco, and will abide with all San Francisco City and County COVID-19 rules and regulations around safety.
CALL FOR WALLS + STOREFRONTS + WHEATPASTERS
MONEY + POWER WHEATPASTING + POSTERING
SAN FRANCISCO + MIAMI + TAMPA + JACKSONVILLE
+ HOUSTON + AUSTIN + DALLAS
For the month of September, Art+Action is activating neighborhoods throughout San Francisco (Mission, Bayview, Dogpatch, SOMA, Castro, Noe Valley, Marina, Pac Heights, Presidio, Tenderloin, Haight-Ashbury), Miami, Tampa, Jacksonville, Houston, Austin, and Dallas for the COME TO YOUR CENSUS campaign.
We're seeking walls + storefront windows (boarded up or as is) as vehicles for artwork + messaging which will inspire our communities—particularly the hard-to-count—to participate in the 2020 Census before it ends on September 30. We're also looking for individuals who are passionate about making a difference in their communities to wheatpaste, poster, or distribute signage to neighborhood markets, grocery stores, food banks, restaurants, bars, liquor stores, coffee shops, laundromats, schools, and libraries. A small stipend is available.
If you have a wall or storefront, know of one that is highly-trafficked, or are interested in postering, please reach out to us at hello@artandaction.us.
Follow Art+Action on Instagram and like us on Facebook for updates about the campaign, or donate here to help us commission artists and mobilize communities to COME TO YOUR CENSUS.
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About Art+Action Art+Action—a coalition for civic participation that spans art, creative, community, business, technology, philanthropy, activist, and government sectors—has launched a multilingual arts-driven campaign that positions artists as catalysts to humanize the issues around the 2020 Census. Ignited by support from San Francisco’s Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs (OCEIA) and the Ford Foundation, and in partnership with trusted institutions and messengers, we've launched a campaign comprised of artist commissions, public programming, community events, exhibitions, and performances to galvanize communities to participate to receive their fair share of resources and political representation for the next decade.
