Lauren Gucik & Rachel Cassandra
Central Library 201 W. Mifflin St., Madison, Wisconsin 53703
press release: The Wisconsin Book Festival presents Lauren Gucik and Rachel Cassandra, authors of Women Street Artists of Latin America: Art Without Fear, on Friday June 24, 2016, at the Wisconsin Public Library’s Bubbler Space. The Central Library is located at 201 W. Miffin St. Madison, Wisconsin 53703. This free event starts at 7:00 pm and is open to all ages.
Join authors Gucik and Cassandra as they share stories from their travels through Mexico and Central and South Americas and present photographs of artwork and portraits of women from the book. Gucik and Cassandra will discuss street artist practices, art as a tool for social change and women’s empowerment through the lens of women making street art in Latin America.
Directly following the presentation, Gucik and Cassandra will teach simple stencil making. Stenciling is a popular form of guerilla art and also a fun and quick way to decorate clothing, household items or make cards. Optional: Bring a t-shirt, tote bag or a wacky item like an old toaster or broken record, and we’ll decorate them! Stencils, paper and fabric will be available for experimentation and to make take- home art. Younger participants can make stamps!
About the Book:
The 20 artists interviewed work in seven countries –Colombia, Peru, Panama, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico- as muralists creating legal art and as graffiti and street artists working beyond legal boundaries. They share intimate stories of mothers working alongside their daughters, gallery artists using buildings as their canvasses, the first women in their cities to make street art, as well as insights from those new to the art form. This breadth of stories is vital to understanding challenges women face in street art as well as illustrating possibilities for street art’s influence on the world, both politically and personally.
About the Authors:
Rachel Cassandra is a freelance writer and designer originally from Princeton, New Jersey. She has written for Vice, Good, Bitch, SFist, and Narratively and writes regularly for Juxtapoz. Find her on Twitter as CassandRachel. She is located in San Francisco, CA.
Lauren Gucik is an artist and community organizer from Northeast Ohio. She works as a children’s art teacher at Precita Eyes and is a member of the Community Advisory Panel at KQED, the Bay Area’s public media station. A volunteer with the Marigold Project, she organizes the Dia de los Muertos Festival of Altars in Garfield Park in San Francisco. She resides in Oakland, CA.
Art Without Fear Book Tour:
The authors will be visiting 6 states in the Midwest and multiple cities throughout California this summer. They will be giving presentations about the stories of the women in the book and the journey they took to create it in efforts to sell as many copies before the books 1st anniversary in November 2016. All profits from book sales during the first year will be returned to the artists in the book to fund mural projects focused on social justice issues or organizing women to paint together. In addition to educational presentations they will be facilitating multiple community art events.
Thus far, the authors have personally funded this project with publishing and distribution support from Manic D Press. In efforts to fund this unique string of free community events, Lauren Gucik is hosting an online Indiegogo Fundraising campaign during the month of June. Perks for donating include a set of postcards with images from the book, a street art kit, a custom 4 color screen printed tote bag and many more. For more information: http://igg.me/at/ArtWithoutFear .