A group of Bothell residents are working together to organize a series of protest events starting this weekend.
“I was one of the lucky people who got to go to Washington, D.C., for the Women’s March on Jan. 21,” Bothell artist Jannelle Loewen, who is organizing the upcoming rally, art show and poetry reading, said of the inspiration for the events.
The events kick off Saturday afternoon with a rally from 3 to 4:30 p.m. outside of Bothell City Hall.
“Before Trump got in, being involved with politics was sort of a certain segment of the population, but with him coming in, there’s been a lot more interest,” Bothell resident Vandana Whitney, one of the rally organizers, said, adding anyone is welcome to come with their signs in tow. “This is a chance to get new people involved. … You can’t just have a small number of people fighting all the time.”
Scheduled speakers include First Legislative District Rep. Shelley Kloba, former First Legislative District Rep. Luis Moscoso, Bobby Righi of Puget Sound Advocates for Reitirement Action (PSARA), Shireen Nori of Planned Parenthood, Nicole Bradt of Indivisible North Seattle, Science March organizer Liz Warfield, Bill Moyer of the Backbone Campaign and Hillary Moralez of the First Legislative District Democrats.
Loewen said she heard from fellow Bothell residents that they wanted to participate in a rally without having to make the trek to Seattle.
“The plaza at the Bothell City Hall seemed like the perfect place to go,” Whitney said.
Following the rally, just down the street, Tsuga Fine Art will host an opening reception for a “Protest Art” show from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday. The works will be on display there through April 15.
“I thought, ‘There’s got to be a whole lot of other artists interested in this,’” Loewen said of organizing the art show, adding she’s collected more than 40 pieces for it.
In addition to Loewen, other artists who will be featured in the show include Norma Baum, Liana Bennett, Jennifer Bowman, Dennis Bowman, Ellen Busteed, Kathy Collins, Monika Dalkin, Julie Fisco, Jan Flynn, Daniel Gonzales, Suzanne Griscom, Eden Hopkins, Aleli Howell, Lyla Jacobsen, Jane Meyer, Larey McDaniel, C.A. Pierce, Carol Ross, Amanda Rusch, Joanne Shellan and Yael Zahavey-Mittleman.
The rally came as a spin-off of the art show.
“(Jannelle’s) artist friends felt like they wanted to do more,” Whitney said.
Following the art show opening reception, Tsuga will also host a “Resistance Poetry” event from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Saturday. Jared Leising, who teaches English at Cascadia College, will be one of the featured poets.
The art show will relocate to Cascadia’s Mobius Hall gallery space from April 17 through May 1, with an opening reception from 6 to 8 p.m. April 18. The show will also pop up at the American Art Co. in Tacoma for the month of July.
For more information, find the “Protest Art – Art Show &Rally” event on Facebook.
This piece by artist Lyla Jacobsen will be featured in the “Protest Art” show at Tsuga Fine Art and Cascadia College this month. Submitted art
This piece by artist Liana Bennett will be featured in the “Protest Art” show at Tsuga Fine Art and Cascadia College this month. Submitted art
This piece by Bothell artist Jannelle Loewen will be featured in the “Protest Art” show at Tsuga Fine Art and Cascadia College this month. Submitted art Constituents gather outside of Rep. Suzan DelBene’s Bothell office on March 24 to support the congresswoman’s stance on preserving the Affordable Care Act and protest the new health care initiative put forward by Republicans. CATHERINE KRUMMEY / Bothell Reporter
