The Mural is complete! We had a wonderful celebration gathering on June 12. Lots of friends and neighbors got to see the unveiling, with music and dancing spilling into the street in front of Inkworks.

The mural has transformed the outside of our building into a vivid and colorful representation of the past 40 years of people’s history and grassroots movements.

The painting of the mural has incurred debts we need to pay back. Please donate and become a part of this vibrant public art available for our entire community to see and appreciate.

We will gladly accept any size donation. Just a few dollars from each one of you will help pay outstanding bills for paint and scaffolding. For donations of $100 or more, we will gratefully give you a copy of our critically acclaimed book Visions of Peace and Justice signed by current members of the Inkworks Collective and Juana Alicia, mural director.

You may send us a check written to Earth Island on behalf of InkWorks
or to make a secure online donation, go to http://eii.org/contribute
IMPORTANT – Please enter the following line into the Comments and
Questions section of the online donation form:

“Donation for Streets Alive/True Colors on Behalf of Inkworks Press”
Contributions to Earth Island Institute are tax deductible

We thank you for your generous support!

Everyone is invited!
Saturday June 12 from 4-7 p.m.
2827 Seventh Street between Heinz and Grayson in West Berkeley

"Visions of Peace and Justice: The Inkworks Mural," painted by students in the Mural Design and Creation Class at Berkeley City College, directed by Juana Alicia.

Music, Food, Dancers, Entertainment
and Mural Merchandise for Sale!

Performers include:
Cuautli Mitotiani Mexica Aztec Dance Group
Kalanjali East Indian Dance Troupe, IS,
Psychedelic Dancetronica, DJs Marco Juarez,
Jose Ruiz and guest speakers

Presented by Inkworks Press, the True Colors Mural Project, Berkeley City College and Earth Island Institute

Community Sponsors: Brett Weinstein, Berkeley Patients Group, the City of Berkeley Youth Works Program, Casa Latina, Flaco’s Fine Vegetarian Mexican Food, Picante Restaurant, Dick Blick art store, Pacific Scaffolding and Juan’s Place Traditional Mexican food.

For more information call 510 816-0201

See below for information on tax deductible donations to this exciting project.

After months of brainstorming, rough drafts, long discussions and many revisions, the True Colors mural arts program at Berkeley City College has finalized an amazing piece of art that is set to be painted on the facade of the Inkworks’ building in early 2010. True Colors is a project of renowned muralist Juana Alicia Montoya and will be partnering with the Streets Alive project of the Earth Island Institute to complete this epic and inspiring mural.

Featured here are final sketches competed by the students that detail various sections of the mural design. We are also using this opportunity to ask for your valued participation in making this all happen through a generous donation. The vast majority of the work that it will take to realize the vision the students of True Colors have for this important piece of public art will be on donated time. However there are certain costs that are unavoidable, such as paint and scaffolding, and that is where your support comes in!

Inkworks’ role as a long term sustainer of activism and organizing makes it a perfect match for True Colors use of mural making to educate students in critical social and environmental issues that face our local and global communities. Juana Alicia has facilitated a semester long process with the students of brainstorming, sketching and consulting with Inkworks in order to develop a beautiful final design for the mural. It will stretch across the entire front facade of the Inkworks building facing 7th street and encompass many of the important movements and campaigns that have organized in the Bay Area and beyond during the past 35 years. This colorful piece of public art is a contribution to the street life and character of the West Berkeley neighborhood that Inkworks calls home. It will be a historic piece of art, an educational tool and an additional landmark in the spirit of Berkeley’s uniqueness.

May 1 is our scheduled finish date so mark your calendars for an inaugural celebration! For previous coverage of the mural project please click here.

DONATE TODAY!

Painting is set to begin in early April so this is a perfect time to help make this vision a reality. All donations are tax deductible and will be directly used to ensure that this vibrant and valuable community endeavor is completed.

Follow the link below to make a secure online donation:
http://earthisland.org/mural/gift

The sketches of the mural were created by Kwesi Acquaa, Joel S. Beaird, Sabrina Collins, Allison Connor, Diego Mendoza Cordero, Nube Cruz, Olivia Levins Holden, George Lippman, Amalia Gaspar, Maya Montoya, Ajene Moss, Amy Ortiz, Smokie, Heather Reaney, Valentino Rodriguez, Vanessa Verdin. Directed by Juana Alicia  © 2009 World Rights Reserved.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON TRUE COLORS: 
http://truecolorsmuralproject.wordpress.com/

Some of the most exciting organizing has taken place right here in Berkeley and Inkworks is proud to have printed many of the posters that have helped mobilize people into action around these crucial issues for the future of our state.

Below is a gallery of posters, placards, and calls to action that we have printed for this movement over the past few months. The photos featured here are all from the standoff outside of Wheeler Hall on the Berkeley campus that lasted for 12 hours on November 20 when police attempted to evict and arrest 43 students who had occupied the building. The students were demanding the rehiring of laid off AFSCME janitorial staff, fair contracts for some of the immigrant owned businesses on campus, the protection of low income housing opportunities for students and complete amnesty for all those who have been involved in the protests.

PROTEST POSTERS GALLERY:

Poster for September 24 UC Berkeley Walkout Created By Student Worker Action Team and Endorsed by 9/16 General Assembly

Various Placards for UC Berkeley American Federation of Teachers

Poster for October 26 Crisis of the Public University Conference art by Favianna.com and Seth Tobocman

Poster for three day strike at UC Berkeley to coincide with UC Regents Meeting, November 18-20

All photos courtesy of Andrew Stern http://andrewstern.net/

Many of the most memorable posters Inkworks has printed since the early 1980s are from Bay Area artist, Doug Minkler. His unique style is instantly recognizable along with his work’s consistent commitment to challenging injustices and working for peace.

Doug has worked closely with Inkworks over the years to publish some of of the shop’s most well known posters including ‘The US Government Doesn’t Know Beans’ and ‘Art is not a Mirror’.  He recently printed a series of posters –some brand new and others a bit older– at Inkworks using our short run digital printing capabilities. A gallery of these posters is below along with a statement from the artist, his explanation of the beautiful ‘Duty to Act’ poster, and where to get more information about his work and the drawing classes he offers for kids.

Duty to Act:

The Einstein quote poster was created  as a result of teaching childrens art classes. I used the dragon imagery to stimulate the kids sense of invention and playfulness.  As I repeatedly drew the Asian dragon I  discovered  I had a deep affinity for this ancient form. In time I learned the Phoenix was the balancing female energy and  the two symbols together are thought to bring good luck, prosperity, unity, marital harmony and a string of other positive attributes to the observer. In an effort to harness these positive symbols for the purpose of addressing a urgent crisis of our times I connected Albert Einstein’s famous contemporary call to action. The final task of which I am today still involved in is joining the poster to an organization. Ideally I work the other way around–an organization seeks me out to create a poster for their/our  cause. I have been making posters too long to believe i can wait for ideal working conditions.

Other Recently Printed Work:

Imagine poster with a quote about fairy tales from Albert Einstein, 1993

A poster for the Transport Workers on the 75th Anniversary of the San Francisco General strike, 2009

Poster about the radical accomplishments of the ILWU, 2008

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Corporations want artists to glorify their wars, their products & their philosophies. I make posters for my own preservation, that is, planetary preservation. My prints are inspired not by rugged individualism, but by the collective humor, defiance, & lust for life exhibited by those on the margins.

The US Government claims that only through a massive military economy and preemptive wars can peace and justice be maintained. I am among a growing number of artists who disagree.  We are asking, “Peace for who?” and “What kind of justice?” And with our art we are answering: “Peace for all nations” and “Egalitarian justice”.  We are putting our creativity in the service of like-minded organizations.

Past collaborations include: International Longshore Workers Union, Rain Forest Action Network, SF Mime Troupe, American Civil Liberties Union, Lawyers Guild, Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, United Auto Workers, Africa Information Network, Ecumenical Peace Union, ADAPT, De-Bug, Cop Watch, Street Sheet and Veterans for Peace, United Educators of San Francisco.

FOR MORE INFO:
www.dminkler.com
dminkler@dminkler.com

Kids Drop-in Classes,  Drawing the Unusual
Sunday mornings 10:30-11:45am
For more info call  (510) 548-7119
Berkeley, CA

Inkworks is excited to announce the latest addition to our award-winning services. With the recent acquisition of a KM6500 Production Copier, we can now do quick turnaround, full color, short run jobs such as booklets, brochures, cards, and posters. As with all of our work at Inkworks, we print with worker collective, union labor on recycled paper with high post-consumer waste content.

To celebrate this exciting new service, we are offering promotional pricing on some of our most popular products.

photo: Jessica runs the KM6500