1 00:00:05,100 --> 00:00:08,166 (car engine humming) 2 00:00:09,933 --> 00:00:12,566 (upbeat music) 3 00:00:33,100 --> 00:00:33,933 (anticipatory music) 4 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:48,233 (shovel scraping) 5 00:00:51,466 --> 00:00:56,433 (paintbrush swishing) 6 00:01:02,166 --> 00:01:05,333 - I actually like the term "activist artist," 7 00:01:05,333 --> 00:01:07,066 much better than "political artist," 8 00:01:07,066 --> 00:01:09,966 mostly because people pigeonhole you that way. 9 00:01:09,966 --> 00:01:12,500 (upbeat music) 10 00:01:14,566 --> 00:01:17,500 And I'm not just a political artist, 11 00:01:17,500 --> 00:01:21,633 I use my art to tell stories. 12 00:01:21,633 --> 00:01:24,000 I use my art to make people think. 13 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:27,833 I use my art to entertain my community, 14 00:01:27,833 --> 00:01:30,033 and also to find out who I am. 15 00:01:30,033 --> 00:01:32,633 (upbeat music) 16 00:01:46,466 --> 00:01:48,566 I fell in love 17 00:01:48,566 --> 00:01:51,233 with painting when I was teaching nursery school 18 00:01:51,233 --> 00:01:52,533 and the kids were painting 19 00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:57,233 and I just wanted to paint. 20 00:01:57,233 --> 00:01:59,666 I would paint sometimes 12 hours a day. 21 00:01:59,666 --> 00:02:03,100 And some days, I was painting so many hours, 22 00:02:03,100 --> 00:02:05,866 that in the morning it felt like the little fairies had come 23 00:02:05,866 --> 00:02:07,266 and finished my painting, 24 00:02:07,266 --> 00:02:10,266 I didn't remember at what stage I had left it, 25 00:02:10,266 --> 00:02:14,733 and sometimes the paintings just felt done by somebody else. 26 00:02:14,733 --> 00:02:18,200 And it was always something exciting, magical. 27 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,400 And I usually have four or five, 28 00:02:20,400 --> 00:02:22,200 six paintings going at once. 29 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:24,700 (piano music) 30 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:40,566 I like how things appear, you didn't plan on. 31 00:02:40,566 --> 00:02:45,566 And now that I have cataracts, my God (laughs) 32 00:02:46,700 --> 00:02:49,066 I am seeing so many things in my paintings. 33 00:02:49,066 --> 00:02:50,300 So you know, it's just like, 34 00:02:50,300 --> 00:02:52,066 this little smudge all of a sudden, 35 00:02:52,066 --> 00:02:53,600 determines what the painting is, 36 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:55,266 'cause I see something there. 37 00:02:55,266 --> 00:02:57,733 (piano music) 38 00:03:05,033 --> 00:03:09,200 I love the give and the take, the painting talks to me. 39 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:11,700 (piano music) 40 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:34,266 I'll avoid painting for the morning, 41 00:03:34,266 --> 00:03:36,500 part of the morning, often. 42 00:03:43,300 --> 00:03:44,500 And like this morning, 43 00:03:44,500 --> 00:03:47,300 I went out skating from eight to nine. 44 00:03:47,300 --> 00:03:49,633 It was beautiful, absolutely beautiful, 45 00:03:49,633 --> 00:03:50,766 before the ice got too soft 46 00:03:52,166 --> 00:03:57,133 And then I'll avoid painting for a bit longer. (laughs) 47 00:03:59,533 --> 00:04:00,333 And I'll finally sit down, 48 00:04:00,333 --> 00:04:01,666 and then I have 49 00:04:01,666 --> 00:04:04,200 to just always get up every 10 or 15 minutes, 50 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:06,700 because I'm sitting on something that's not that comfortable 51 00:04:06,700 --> 00:04:08,533 and I'm getting older and stiff. 52 00:04:08,533 --> 00:04:11,433 So, sometimes I'll take a nap at 10 at night, 53 00:04:11,433 --> 00:04:15,166 for half hour or an hour, and then I'll stay up till two. 54 00:04:15,166 --> 00:04:18,100 Painting is, it's just that ultimate challenge. 55 00:04:18,100 --> 00:04:19,366 I'm never satisfied. 56 00:04:19,366 --> 00:04:21,266 I might be satisfied for an hour, 57 00:04:21,266 --> 00:04:22,933 or for a day or two or three. 58 00:04:22,933 --> 00:04:24,600 But since I don't usually know 59 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:26,266 what it's gonna look like ahead of time, 60 00:04:26,266 --> 00:04:28,366 there's always that excitement. 61 00:04:28,366 --> 00:04:30,500 You know, creating something you've never seen before 62 00:04:30,500 --> 00:04:32,533 and trying to figure out what it's about. 63 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:42,766 (old-time TV music) 64 00:04:46,533 --> 00:04:49,433 Hey Kathy, why are we up so high? 65 00:04:49,433 --> 00:04:52,866 - We're out to change the world, Natasha. 66 00:04:54,666 --> 00:04:57,066 - Hey Kathy, you haven't seen what I did 67 00:04:57,066 --> 00:04:59,833 with the present you brought me. 68 00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:02,333 - What present? 69 00:05:02,333 --> 00:05:06,933 - You brought me a box of fluorescent paint. 70 00:05:07,500 --> 00:05:08,666 - [Kathy] Wow. 71 00:05:08,666 --> 00:05:10,166 - That you had seen a lot of them, 72 00:05:10,166 --> 00:05:12,433 and I went back in with a fluorescent paint. (laughs) 73 00:05:12,433 --> 00:05:15,600 So I took one of those monochromatic ones, 74 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:17,833 and I did put some fluorescent paint 75 00:05:17,833 --> 00:05:19,466 in it, but so-- - I like it. 76 00:05:19,466 --> 00:05:20,466 - You like it? 77 00:05:20,466 --> 00:05:21,766 - Well, don't you? 78 00:05:21,766 --> 00:05:23,600 Why did you just put it here and not everywhere? 79 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:27,500 - So I go, so it wouldn't be quite such an overall pattern. 80 00:05:29,333 --> 00:05:31,433 - It already is an overall pattern. 81 00:05:31,433 --> 00:05:34,566 - But I thought if I put some around the edge and in here, 82 00:05:34,566 --> 00:05:39,100 that it'd give a little more push and pull to it. 83 00:05:39,100 --> 00:05:43,100 - Well, what you get is a crowd feeling, 84 00:05:44,566 --> 00:05:47,933 but it could also be the same person over and over again. 85 00:05:47,933 --> 00:05:49,933 I'm really tickled that you went back 86 00:05:49,933 --> 00:05:51,633 in some and added color. 87 00:05:52,966 --> 00:05:54,766 - [Natasha] I'm giving them different faces 88 00:05:54,766 --> 00:05:58,066 and different shapes, but they're all chairs. 89 00:05:58,066 --> 00:06:00,566 - [Kathy] They're not very different though. 90 00:06:00,566 --> 00:06:02,033 - [Natasha] No, they're not. 91 00:06:02,033 --> 00:06:03,533 White, they're all white. 92 00:06:03,533 --> 00:06:06,166 - [Kathy] We might notice they're all white more, 93 00:06:06,166 --> 00:06:07,866 if one of them weren't white. 94 00:06:07,866 --> 00:06:08,666 - Oh, uh-huh. 95 00:06:10,133 --> 00:06:12,133 [Natasha] I sometimes feel like a painting doctor. 96 00:06:12,133 --> 00:06:14,533 With other people, I can always tell 97 00:06:14,533 --> 00:06:17,466 on somebody else's painting, what's working, what isn't. 98 00:06:17,466 --> 00:06:19,866 And on my own work, it's a little bit harder, 99 00:06:19,866 --> 00:06:22,733 but I'm always, always adjusting, 100 00:06:23,633 --> 00:06:26,000 you know, dissatisfied, adding, 101 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:31,000 it might just be that I add one line to what I'm working on. 102 00:06:32,133 --> 00:06:33,333 But we've been doing this a long time, Kathy. 103 00:06:33,333 --> 00:06:35,166 I kind of forget where we're headed. 104 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:39,000 - Do you think it's like mine? 105 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:40,400 - Do you love it. 106 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:42,000 - I think it's wonderful. 107 00:06:43,833 --> 00:06:46,300 It is both sweet and cruel. 108 00:06:46,300 --> 00:06:49,466 Look at how nasty you made that guy. 109 00:06:50,966 --> 00:06:53,500 I think we're on the right course. 110 00:06:53,500 --> 00:06:56,166 - Okay, I'm following you though. 111 00:06:56,166 --> 00:06:58,966 - I'm following you, Natasha. 112 00:06:58,966 --> 00:07:00,966 - Then we can end up in circles then. 113 00:07:00,966 --> 00:07:02,400 - I like that. 114 00:07:03,700 --> 00:07:04,533 (birdsong) 115 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:23,233 [Natasha] I went down to the river, 116 00:07:23,233 --> 00:07:25,300 and I picked fiddleheads. 117 00:07:25,300 --> 00:07:27,100 My daughter, Sienna, do you remember her? 118 00:07:27,100 --> 00:07:29,066 She's now mid-30s, 119 00:07:29,066 --> 00:07:30,900 but when she was about eight or nine, 120 00:07:30,900 --> 00:07:33,233 she started counting everything on the wall. 121 00:07:33,233 --> 00:07:35,466 One, two, three, four, five. 122 00:07:35,466 --> 00:07:38,466 She got up to 287 things on the wall. 123 00:07:38,466 --> 00:07:40,900 And she said, "I quit." (laughs) 124 00:07:40,900 --> 00:07:43,900 I'm lucky to have a lot of artists who are friends, 125 00:07:43,900 --> 00:07:46,200 and we've traded work over the years. 126 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:48,900 I've bought some work from the adults with mental illness 127 00:07:48,900 --> 00:07:51,866 that I work with at two social clubs. 128 00:07:51,866 --> 00:07:53,233 My kids art work, 129 00:07:53,233 --> 00:07:55,133 of course, I love to live with. 130 00:07:55,133 --> 00:07:58,900 So there's a lot of Maine artists in this room. 131 00:07:58,900 --> 00:08:01,800 - And I've got actually several of your prints 132 00:08:01,800 --> 00:08:04,300 that I think I-- - Actually bought. 133 00:08:04,300 --> 00:08:05,800 - Well, I actually bought, 134 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:10,100 but I feel like I didn't give you enough for them. 135 00:08:10,100 --> 00:08:12,366 - Yes, their monetary value... - We have trouble with, 136 00:08:12,366 --> 00:08:15,333 we don't like in a way selling paintings, 137 00:08:15,333 --> 00:08:18,033 because of the relationship between art and money, 138 00:08:18,033 --> 00:08:19,133 and all that stuff. 139 00:08:19,133 --> 00:08:21,300 But on the other hand, 140 00:08:21,300 --> 00:08:23,100 when you can actually help somebody else 141 00:08:23,100 --> 00:08:25,466 by giving them money for their paintings. 142 00:08:25,466 --> 00:08:29,133 - And I grew up in a very difficult household 143 00:08:29,133 --> 00:08:33,366 where my dad could not talk about money, 144 00:08:33,366 --> 00:08:35,100 could not bill his patients. 145 00:08:35,100 --> 00:08:38,466 He just accepted whatever they gave him. 146 00:08:39,433 --> 00:08:41,300 And I grew up with that same. 147 00:08:41,300 --> 00:08:44,166 - And he was a doctor. - Yes, a psychiatrist. 148 00:08:44,166 --> 00:08:47,466 And he had this terrible psychological problem, 149 00:08:47,466 --> 00:08:48,966 not being able to bill (laughing). 150 00:08:48,966 --> 00:08:52,800 And it was because he didn't know how to value himself 151 00:08:52,800 --> 00:08:54,800 and what he had to offer, I think, 152 00:08:56,133 --> 00:08:58,766 and I think I've...that's rubbed off on me. 153 00:09:01,233 --> 00:09:03,533 I feel what I do is valuable, 154 00:09:04,700 --> 00:09:07,733 in starting Artists' Rapid Response Team 155 00:09:07,733 --> 00:09:10,033 and working with adults with mental illness 156 00:09:10,033 --> 00:09:14,100 and making my own work, I do feel that it's valuable work. 157 00:09:14,100 --> 00:09:16,700 I just don't know how to put any monetary value. 158 00:09:16,700 --> 00:09:20,200 I hate the notion that it has a monetary value. 159 00:09:20,200 --> 00:09:23,366 - When I moved to Maine back in 1970 160 00:09:23,366 --> 00:09:26,700 and came down to Brunswick to a meeting, 161 00:09:26,700 --> 00:09:29,700 and I think that's when I met Natasha for the first time. 162 00:09:29,700 --> 00:09:34,366 She was so far beyond where I was in the use of art. 163 00:09:34,366 --> 00:09:38,666 And I thought, "Geez, I'd like to do that." 164 00:09:38,666 --> 00:09:41,200 I mean, it was the way that...the passion 165 00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:43,000 with which she was engaged. 166 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,433 It wasn't that she was making a lot of money, she wasn't. 167 00:09:45,433 --> 00:09:47,333 You know, but whatever the issue was, 168 00:09:47,333 --> 00:09:49,033 somehow there she was either involved 169 00:09:49,033 --> 00:09:52,733 with people with mental challenges or putting art 170 00:09:52,733 --> 00:09:55,400 in a storefront about homelessness or marching 171 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:57,700 in front of something, carrying a banner. 172 00:09:57,700 --> 00:10:01,533 I thought, "Gee, that is my idea of 173 00:10:01,533 --> 00:10:03,833 what it means to be an artist." 174 00:10:03,833 --> 00:10:06,733 (quietly emotional music) 175 00:10:16,333 --> 00:10:19,166 - I had my first child in 1981. 176 00:10:19,166 --> 00:10:20,900 And while I was pregnant, 177 00:10:20,900 --> 00:10:24,400 the work became more symbolic of sparks going out 178 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,533 and messages going out over the telephone poles. 179 00:10:27,533 --> 00:10:31,500 And I started situating myself at the center 180 00:10:31,500 --> 00:10:34,500 of the world before the baby came and knocked me off center. 181 00:10:36,866 --> 00:10:40,066 There was a period when I went outside and I did roads. 182 00:10:46,900 --> 00:10:51,866 After 9/11, I did a whole series of maps, war maps, 183 00:10:53,433 --> 00:10:56,533 of what war might look like in Maine, 184 00:10:56,533 --> 00:10:59,933 because we were making war in Iraq and Afghanistan. 185 00:10:59,933 --> 00:11:04,933 So there's some maps of farms and cows upside down 186 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:11,666 and bombs landing in little league fields 187 00:11:11,666 --> 00:11:13,733 and giant lobsters. 188 00:11:13,733 --> 00:11:17,333 And I showed those at the Portland Museum of Art back 189 00:11:17,333 --> 00:11:19,100 about, I think it was 2005. 190 00:11:20,500 --> 00:11:23,900 (bomb explodes) 191 00:11:23,900 --> 00:11:25,300 - [TV announcer] Overnight 192 00:11:25,300 --> 00:11:28,100 Airstrikes lighting up the Syrian sky. 193 00:11:28,100 --> 00:11:30,266 (missile fires) 194 00:11:30,266 --> 00:11:33,433 (drumbeat and cars driving in slush) 195 00:11:34,966 --> 00:11:36,966 - They're having the christening today, 196 00:11:36,966 --> 00:11:38,833 of the Aegis missile destroyer. 197 00:11:43,433 --> 00:11:45,100 (missile fires) 198 00:11:45,100 --> 00:11:48,000 I've seen on the news, pictures of people that are hit 199 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:51,566 by missiles from these destroyer ships 200 00:11:51,566 --> 00:11:52,800 that are built right here. 201 00:11:54,600 --> 00:11:57,266 I've been to more demonstrations than I can count. 202 00:12:00,133 --> 00:12:02,233 I'm the one wearing the carbon footprint. 203 00:12:05,400 --> 00:12:07,000 I remember getting arrested 204 00:12:07,000 --> 00:12:12,000 at Tom Allen's office long time ago, and it was on the news. 205 00:12:12,833 --> 00:12:14,033 And I went to my mechanic, 206 00:12:14,033 --> 00:12:16,366 we always scrapped about political stuff. 207 00:12:16,366 --> 00:12:19,900 And he was in the absolute opposite side of everything, 208 00:12:19,900 --> 00:12:24,833 but he saw me get arrested and he had a total change 209 00:12:24,833 --> 00:12:26,900 of attitude about me. 210 00:12:26,900 --> 00:12:30,200 He really respected me for sticking my neck out, 211 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:33,200 that to me was an enormous lesson. 212 00:12:33,200 --> 00:12:36,666 People respect you if you stand up for things. 213 00:12:39,833 --> 00:12:42,733 When I was standing on the sidewalk 214 00:12:42,733 --> 00:12:45,133 in front of a whole group of policemen, 215 00:12:45,133 --> 00:12:47,733 I was overhearing them talking about how... 216 00:12:48,833 --> 00:12:50,133 and one said to the other, 217 00:12:50,133 --> 00:12:53,466 "You know, this is what America is all about. 218 00:12:53,466 --> 00:12:55,166 This kind of freedom of expression. 219 00:12:55,166 --> 00:12:56,533 This is a good thing." 220 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:00,800 It was snowing, and it was slushy. 221 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:03,400 And the police thought it was too dangerous 222 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:04,866 for us to be in the street. 223 00:13:04,866 --> 00:13:06,133 (ominous music) 224 00:13:06,133 --> 00:13:09,866 So we moved toward the gate onto the sidewalk, 225 00:13:09,866 --> 00:13:12,733 but we never intended to enter the BIW property 226 00:13:12,733 --> 00:13:15,100 or to disrupt the christening event. 227 00:13:16,100 --> 00:13:17,766 Nine of us got arrested. 228 00:13:19,733 --> 00:13:21,233 (background talking) 229 00:13:21,233 --> 00:13:23,933 I never expected, I'd get so much help from the police. 230 00:13:23,933 --> 00:13:25,433 There were two of them. 231 00:13:25,433 --> 00:13:28,233 So there were four hands helping me untie the knots 232 00:13:28,233 --> 00:13:31,633 that held the carbon footprint under my chin. 233 00:13:34,533 --> 00:13:38,266 (talking) - they can take care of it... 234 00:13:39,400 --> 00:13:41,533 General Dynamics owns BIW, 235 00:13:42,933 --> 00:13:47,533 and that's one of the 10 top weapons manufacturers 236 00:13:48,233 --> 00:13:49,066 in the entire world. 237 00:13:49,066 --> 00:13:50,800 They could diversify. 238 00:13:52,233 --> 00:13:56,700 Why aren't we launching $7 billion worth of solar panels? 239 00:13:56,700 --> 00:13:58,900 And why aren't we launching a ship 240 00:13:58,900 --> 00:14:02,466 to go get rid of plastics out of the ocean? 241 00:14:02,466 --> 00:14:04,466 People are gonna die from missiles 242 00:14:04,466 --> 00:14:05,800 that are launched by this ship, 243 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:06,966 and the ship is going 244 00:14:06,966 --> 00:14:09,800 into the Kennebec River right here today. 245 00:14:11,133 --> 00:14:13,366 I have to do what I can to stop it. 246 00:14:15,200 --> 00:14:17,933 (serious music and drumbeat) 247 00:14:25,700 --> 00:14:27,933 We posted bail and they set a court date 248 00:14:27,933 --> 00:14:29,133 in a couple of months. 249 00:14:29,133 --> 00:14:30,933 I don't know if I'm gonna have to go to jail 250 00:14:30,933 --> 00:14:32,500 and how long they could keep me. 251 00:14:37,666 --> 00:14:40,933 - For me, and I assume for Natasha, 252 00:14:40,933 --> 00:14:42,666 the only way we can be in the world 253 00:14:42,666 --> 00:14:46,633 and understand what's going on and help to mediate 254 00:14:46,633 --> 00:14:50,766 how we feel is to make pictures about it. 255 00:14:50,766 --> 00:14:53,533 If you let what's happening in the world totally 256 00:14:53,533 --> 00:14:57,466 into you and you don't have a way to transfigure it 257 00:14:57,466 --> 00:15:00,900 and then move it back out, it'll destroy you, I think. 258 00:15:00,900 --> 00:15:02,433 I mean, if you really feel it, 259 00:15:02,433 --> 00:15:04,566 I mean, I think that's why so many people have to be 260 00:15:04,566 --> 00:15:07,866 in denial because they have no way to process 261 00:15:07,866 --> 00:15:09,366 what's actually going on. 262 00:15:09,366 --> 00:15:12,233 One thing artists do is make pictures about it. 263 00:15:12,233 --> 00:15:15,900 So they take that difficult experience 264 00:15:15,900 --> 00:15:17,766 and then shape it 265 00:15:17,766 --> 00:15:20,933 and then move it back outside of themselves. 266 00:15:20,933 --> 00:15:23,900 [Rob] Right, is everything in here possible for the show? 267 00:15:23,900 --> 00:15:25,666 [Natasha] Oh yeah (laughs) 268 00:15:25,666 --> 00:15:28,200 I have a show coming up at the Harlow Gallery, 269 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:32,900 and it's hard for me to know what to put into a show. 270 00:15:32,900 --> 00:15:36,666 So I asked Rob to come over because he has such a good eye. 271 00:15:36,666 --> 00:15:38,900 - I mean, I would include this, for instance. 272 00:15:40,700 --> 00:15:42,733 It's different than the others, 273 00:15:42,733 --> 00:15:44,266 and often a lot of your work is 274 00:15:44,266 --> 00:15:49,266 about the relationship of the oppressor to the oppressed, 275 00:15:50,700 --> 00:15:54,366 and how both the oppressor and oppressed are enslaved then. 276 00:15:54,366 --> 00:15:55,700 I mean, here, 277 00:15:55,700 --> 00:15:57,900 I mean, in order-- - They're attached. 278 00:15:57,900 --> 00:15:59,000 - Well, they're attached, 279 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:01,333 I mean in order to be the wall, 280 00:16:01,333 --> 00:16:03,100 you have to stay in place. 281 00:16:03,100 --> 00:16:04,800 You can't move. - [Natasha] Yeah. 282 00:16:04,800 --> 00:16:06,100 - [Rob] You're stuck. - [Natasha] Yeah. 283 00:16:06,100 --> 00:16:07,600 - As difficult as a lot of the subjects 284 00:16:07,600 --> 00:16:10,600 that Natasha deals with, as difficult as those subjects are, 285 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:14,333 in the process of lifting that burden outside of herself, 286 00:16:14,333 --> 00:16:16,466 she is able to add into it, 287 00:16:16,466 --> 00:16:19,300 all these different aspects of her personality. 288 00:16:19,300 --> 00:16:22,933 So it's got humor, it's got anger, it's got love. 289 00:16:22,933 --> 00:16:25,733 It's got outrage, it's got grief. 290 00:16:25,733 --> 00:16:28,066 It's got all those things...become part of it. 291 00:16:28,066 --> 00:16:29,266 I mean, after that, 292 00:16:29,266 --> 00:16:31,100 you know, cooking inside of her for a while, 293 00:16:31,100 --> 00:16:33,266 it then becomes this product 294 00:16:33,266 --> 00:16:36,566 for other people to look at and think about. 295 00:16:37,766 --> 00:16:40,466 I would maintain that all art is political. 296 00:16:40,466 --> 00:16:43,333 I mean, you choose to paint landscapes 297 00:16:43,333 --> 00:16:47,266 when the house is on fire, that's pretty political. 298 00:16:47,266 --> 00:16:49,466 I mean, what you're suggesting is, 299 00:16:49,466 --> 00:16:51,666 "Oh, this will look good behind the couch," 300 00:16:51,666 --> 00:16:54,966 and the couch is going to be gone soon. 301 00:16:54,966 --> 00:16:57,666 So yeah, all art is political, 302 00:16:57,666 --> 00:17:01,500 but the artists who do that work, do pay a price for it 303 00:17:01,500 --> 00:17:03,300 because it isn't a commodity. 304 00:17:03,300 --> 00:17:04,533 By doing political art, 305 00:17:04,533 --> 00:17:07,800 you're usually choosing not to sell your work. 306 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:10,966 People don't buy political art much, so it is hard, 307 00:17:10,966 --> 00:17:13,900 but on the other hand, she's free. 308 00:17:13,900 --> 00:17:15,400 I mean you choose, you know, 309 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:17,533 when you choose to make these kinds of statements, 310 00:17:17,533 --> 00:17:21,000 you get a different kind of freedom. 311 00:17:21,000 --> 00:17:23,533 You aren't afraid of going anywhere, 312 00:17:23,533 --> 00:17:24,633 you know, and using-- 313 00:17:24,633 --> 00:17:26,566 - Well, they take me. 314 00:17:26,566 --> 00:17:28,200 You know, it's not like I had 315 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:29,700 that idea ahead of time. - [Rob] Yeah. 316 00:17:29,700 --> 00:17:31,366 - It was like, I just wanted to continue 317 00:17:31,366 --> 00:17:33,166 that tie right down. 318 00:17:33,166 --> 00:17:36,900 I wanted it to make them exposed, 319 00:17:36,900 --> 00:17:38,000 take their pants off. 320 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:39,500 - [Rob] Yeah. 321 00:17:39,500 --> 00:17:42,833 - And so it came to me in the painting, you know, 322 00:17:42,833 --> 00:17:45,000 the painting process. - Yeah, right. 323 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:49,333 - I was doing really serious, deadly serious, 324 00:17:49,333 --> 00:17:52,666 dead body work before -- (nervous laugh) corpses 325 00:17:52,666 --> 00:17:55,866 and people...The Disappeared, I did a big series 326 00:17:55,866 --> 00:17:58,133 about "les desaparecidos" 327 00:17:58,133 --> 00:17:59,666 of Latin America, 328 00:17:59,666 --> 00:18:04,266 and probably the biggest change for me was going 329 00:18:04,266 --> 00:18:08,466 to Bread and Puppet Circus in Vermont, 330 00:18:08,466 --> 00:18:11,200 somewhere in the '80s and seeing 331 00:18:11,200 --> 00:18:16,200 how the puppeteers from Latin America all were funny, 332 00:18:17,233 --> 00:18:19,433 all used humor, all used satire. 333 00:18:19,433 --> 00:18:20,933 Now, some of them had to, 334 00:18:20,933 --> 00:18:23,566 in order to get past the censorship. 335 00:18:23,566 --> 00:18:28,566 All the North Americans and Europeans were deadly serious. 336 00:18:29,433 --> 00:18:31,433 And it was such a great lesson 337 00:18:31,433 --> 00:18:35,366 that you could actually tell a better story 338 00:18:35,366 --> 00:18:38,566 and get more response and be more effective 339 00:18:38,566 --> 00:18:40,700 if you could somehow find a way to use humor. 340 00:18:42,433 --> 00:18:45,366 (gong sound) 341 00:18:45,366 --> 00:18:47,600 Which way is better, Deb? 342 00:18:47,600 --> 00:18:49,900 - [Deb] Can you do it this way? 343 00:18:51,200 --> 00:18:54,266 Probably, the other way, yeah. 344 00:18:57,233 --> 00:18:58,066 (traffic) 345 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,966 Great, here are more of these. 346 00:19:04,966 --> 00:19:06,166 - Thanks. 347 00:19:06,166 --> 00:19:07,133 Yeah. 348 00:19:07,133 --> 00:19:08,266 [Deb] There's that wall there, 349 00:19:08,266 --> 00:19:10,766 and we could put something up there too. 350 00:19:10,766 --> 00:19:12,366 - And that one. 351 00:19:12,366 --> 00:19:14,500 Or it could go, we could have this military section, 352 00:19:14,500 --> 00:19:16,433 all these military guys in hoods. 353 00:19:16,433 --> 00:19:17,800 (tense music) 354 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:20,466 Well, the "Men in Suits" started 355 00:19:20,466 --> 00:19:22,600 about a year before "Occupy." 356 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:26,966 It was the time of the big crash. 357 00:19:26,966 --> 00:19:30,966 And I saw how the banks were responsible 358 00:19:30,966 --> 00:19:32,800 for all this and the "banksters." 359 00:19:32,800 --> 00:19:34,500 And it was at Space Gallery. 360 00:19:34,500 --> 00:19:38,800 And I showed about 250, 300 postcards 361 00:19:38,800 --> 00:19:42,466 that had little tiny men in suits all over the world. 362 00:19:42,466 --> 00:19:44,433 Just kind of taking over. 363 00:19:44,433 --> 00:19:46,666 After that whole postcard series, 364 00:19:46,666 --> 00:19:48,466 now, they're inhabiting my paintings 365 00:19:48,466 --> 00:19:51,300 and they swarm and they swindle 366 00:19:51,300 --> 00:19:53,966 and they plot and they trade and they gamble 367 00:19:53,966 --> 00:19:57,033 in the paintings and they loom over people 368 00:19:57,033 --> 00:19:58,866 and they commandeer the landscape 369 00:19:58,866 --> 00:20:00,800 and they get away with doing whatever they want to do. 370 00:20:03,300 --> 00:20:04,500 (dramatic music) 371 00:20:07,466 --> 00:20:09,533 So, you know, this is quite a few years now 372 00:20:09,533 --> 00:20:11,933 that I'm stuck on these men in suits, 373 00:20:11,933 --> 00:20:13,833 and the subject continues to interest me, 374 00:20:13,833 --> 00:20:16,466 especially with the White House now 375 00:20:16,466 --> 00:20:19,866 under control of somebody who's in a big red tie. 376 00:20:19,866 --> 00:20:23,133 So you know, a lot of it has to do with having a vocabulary 377 00:20:23,133 --> 00:20:28,133 that's unique to me that I don't get tired of. 378 00:20:28,966 --> 00:20:30,466 Did you see that guy out there? 379 00:20:30,466 --> 00:20:34,100 That was my scarecrow in the garden all summer, scarecrow. 380 00:20:34,100 --> 00:20:36,133 Oh, you know, it's always a great thing 381 00:20:36,133 --> 00:20:39,300 to get my work out of the house and to see it up, 382 00:20:39,300 --> 00:20:41,600 to see it as a body of work. 383 00:20:41,600 --> 00:20:42,800 And then of course, 384 00:20:42,800 --> 00:20:44,966 I love an opportunity to see my friends 385 00:20:44,966 --> 00:20:46,800 because I don't give parties anymore. 386 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:47,600 So it's nice for people to come. 387 00:20:49,100 --> 00:20:49,933 (sparkling music) 388 00:20:49,933 --> 00:20:50,700 (footsteps) 389 00:21:09,733 --> 00:21:12,366 (foghorn blowing) 390 00:21:14,533 --> 00:21:16,700 I've been working for 37 years 391 00:21:16,700 --> 00:21:19,233 with adults with mental illness, and their work, 392 00:21:19,233 --> 00:21:24,233 their art work has shown me the way oftentimes 393 00:21:25,433 --> 00:21:28,533 to use my artwork to express my feelings. 394 00:21:29,933 --> 00:21:30,766 Hi. 395 00:21:31,700 --> 00:21:32,533 Come on in. 396 00:21:32,533 --> 00:21:34,200 I had to do the PR. 397 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:36,933 I had to make the lists of what kind of food, 398 00:21:36,933 --> 00:21:40,866 I had to ask people to help which is hard for me to do. 399 00:21:40,866 --> 00:21:42,266 But, you know, plus, 400 00:21:42,266 --> 00:21:44,200 all this matting, shrink-wrapping and framing. 401 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:47,866 For years I've told almost everybody, 402 00:21:47,866 --> 00:21:49,533 when they ask me about it, I say, 403 00:21:49,533 --> 00:21:52,533 "This is what keeps me honest as an artist." 404 00:21:52,533 --> 00:21:57,400 And by that, I mean that I need to have a little more touch, 405 00:21:57,400 --> 00:21:59,000 be in touch with my own art. 406 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:02,266 I need my work to resonate a little bit more maybe 407 00:22:02,266 --> 00:22:03,566 with other people. 408 00:22:03,566 --> 00:22:05,100 (speaking faintly) 409 00:22:05,100 --> 00:22:06,633 - That's a bureaucrat. 410 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:11,900 Natasha drew some pictures of business people. 411 00:22:11,900 --> 00:22:13,900 So I did one of my own. 412 00:22:18,433 --> 00:22:19,266 - [Natasha] I love this work, I love this work. 413 00:22:24,933 --> 00:22:26,500 (birds chirping) 414 00:22:32,300 --> 00:22:34,100 (spoons on dishes, murmuring) 415 00:22:34,100 --> 00:22:36,433 [Marguerite} And so, as a sculptor, 416 00:22:36,433 --> 00:22:39,233 I'm not going to go into an open space 417 00:22:39,233 --> 00:22:40,766 and plop something down 418 00:22:40,766 --> 00:22:43,800 and call myself a public artist. 419 00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:47,133 I'm gonna go and see what needs to be done 420 00:22:47,133 --> 00:22:49,166 and then respond to that and work with the people. 421 00:22:49,166 --> 00:22:52,233 - Well, I don't know if it's a question of age now, 422 00:22:52,233 --> 00:22:54,766 a matter of age, that collaboration is 423 00:22:54,766 --> 00:22:56,733 so important to me now. 424 00:22:56,733 --> 00:22:58,766 It brings me so much pleasure. 425 00:22:58,766 --> 00:23:01,500 I love the point at which when 426 00:23:01,500 --> 00:23:04,200 we started this Artists' Rapid Response Team, 427 00:23:04,200 --> 00:23:07,000 the first year, we kind of, we signed the banners, 428 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:09,833 I think, with our names on the back. 429 00:23:09,833 --> 00:23:11,233 And then, and then I think 430 00:23:11,233 --> 00:23:13,500 by the end of that first year, we stopped signing them. 431 00:23:13,500 --> 00:23:15,733 - Yeah. - It was anonymous. 432 00:23:15,733 --> 00:23:17,633 You know, it was wonderful that 433 00:23:17,633 --> 00:23:19,900 we didn't take credit, you know. 434 00:23:19,900 --> 00:23:23,066 (bright upbeat music) 435 00:23:42,033 --> 00:23:46,466 I helped start an amazing group of artists 436 00:23:46,466 --> 00:23:48,800 who get together once-a-month 437 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:52,366 and we call ourselves the Artists' Rapid Response Team. 438 00:23:52,366 --> 00:23:55,333 And we make banners for all our progressive issues 439 00:23:55,333 --> 00:23:56,166 in the state. 440 00:23:57,333 --> 00:23:58,966 I brought artists together 441 00:23:58,966 --> 00:24:00,700 from the Union of Maine Visual Artists 442 00:24:00,700 --> 00:24:03,733 and from other venues and different groups 443 00:24:03,733 --> 00:24:05,766 and that work that we've done together 444 00:24:05,766 --> 00:24:08,400 has always been the most satisfying to me. 445 00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,366 And so this seemed like the perfect way 446 00:24:11,366 --> 00:24:14,466 to get people together, to do something important, 447 00:24:14,466 --> 00:24:18,733 to do something that's really helpful, that's a way 448 00:24:18,733 --> 00:24:21,533 so we don't have to feel guilty about not going to meetings 449 00:24:21,533 --> 00:24:23,066 and not going to demonstrations 450 00:24:23,066 --> 00:24:26,700 that we could make something for all our favorite causes. 451 00:24:26,700 --> 00:24:29,966 I think, we've made over 400 banners so far. 452 00:24:32,300 --> 00:24:35,933 Activism right now is just too hard 453 00:24:35,933 --> 00:24:37,766 because it's just too many issues. 454 00:24:37,766 --> 00:24:42,766 So (laughs) how do you choose an issue these days? 455 00:24:43,900 --> 00:24:45,533 How do you feel effective? 456 00:24:45,533 --> 00:24:47,633 Have you chosen a couple of issues. 457 00:24:47,633 --> 00:24:48,900 - It's all important. 458 00:24:48,900 --> 00:24:51,600 I mean, it's just very difficult for you then. 459 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:54,133 But I do feel like it ought to be local 460 00:24:54,133 --> 00:24:57,233 on some level and concentrated, I mean, focused. 461 00:24:57,233 --> 00:25:00,466 - That's one of the things that draws me to you, 462 00:25:00,466 --> 00:25:02,000 is that level of place. 463 00:25:02,000 --> 00:25:07,000 And I rooted myself here and I painted, 464 00:25:07,866 --> 00:25:09,300 helped people in the town paint 465 00:25:09,300 --> 00:25:10,700 the history of the town 466 00:25:10,700 --> 00:25:13,133 on the telephone poles, and-- - [Lucy] I love this. 467 00:25:13,133 --> 00:25:16,633 But all three of us are negotiating this business 468 00:25:16,633 --> 00:25:19,133 about being in a place and being responsible 469 00:25:19,133 --> 00:25:20,600 and caring most about the place 470 00:25:20,600 --> 00:25:22,166 and also trying to deal with the larger world and-- 471 00:25:22,166 --> 00:25:24,966 - And bringing that larger world into the local. 472 00:25:24,966 --> 00:25:29,600 Because I really care what happens in my community. 473 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:32,966 And then a lot of the work that I've done as an artist 474 00:25:32,966 --> 00:25:35,166 in residence with helping communities 475 00:25:35,166 --> 00:25:39,666 and school kids make murals -- over 600. 476 00:25:41,533 --> 00:25:43,466 - Okay, everybody, to table. 477 00:25:44,666 --> 00:25:45,966 Grab a chair. 478 00:25:47,133 --> 00:25:48,933 - What a lovely group. 479 00:25:50,166 --> 00:25:52,166 We've got a great day ahead of us 480 00:25:52,166 --> 00:25:53,800 because we've got three students 481 00:25:53,800 --> 00:25:56,033 from the University of Maine at Orono come down 482 00:25:56,033 --> 00:25:59,133 to paint a banner for the Earth Day Committee. 483 00:25:59,133 --> 00:26:01,600 - [Student] "Earth Day, Every Day" was sort of 484 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:03,033 the general theme that we're thinking about -- 485 00:26:03,033 --> 00:26:05,766 It's like a big banner to have hanging down 486 00:26:05,766 --> 00:26:08,933 in Pickering Square to just sort of help draw people in 487 00:26:08,933 --> 00:26:10,900 and let them know about the event. 488 00:26:10,900 --> 00:26:13,000 Any guidance that you guys have 489 00:26:13,000 --> 00:26:15,333 to offer us, like that size right there, 490 00:26:15,333 --> 00:26:16,533 I don't know if that's what you normally tend to do, 491 00:26:16,533 --> 00:26:18,600 but that's like perfect, yeah. 492 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:20,533 - [Natasha] That's a little bit bigger than a normal, 493 00:26:20,533 --> 00:26:22,900 but we can think about it... - [Student] Okay. 494 00:26:22,900 --> 00:26:24,433 - [Artist] That one's a little too long 495 00:26:24,433 --> 00:26:25,866 to carry in a parade. - Yeah. 496 00:26:25,866 --> 00:26:27,766 so, the shorter ones are easier to... 497 00:26:27,766 --> 00:26:29,366 - [Student] Okay, yeah, we're flexible. 498 00:26:29,366 --> 00:26:30,566 - [Natasha] So we've got to cut, 499 00:26:30,566 --> 00:26:33,366 you guys can cut and measure a seven foot, 500 00:26:33,366 --> 00:26:36,166 and then you're gonna work on gun control, 501 00:26:36,166 --> 00:26:37,700 you're working on this... 502 00:26:40,066 --> 00:26:43,833 - Nothing about us, without us, is for us. 503 00:26:43,833 --> 00:26:46,000 And I always repeat that in my lectures, saying, 504 00:26:46,000 --> 00:26:49,533 "Get it? Nothing about us, without us, is for us," 505 00:26:49,533 --> 00:26:52,066 because I think it's just a brilliant phrasing 506 00:26:52,066 --> 00:26:55,033 of what we all care about -- is that really, 507 00:26:55,033 --> 00:26:57,066 it's difficult to work with communities 508 00:26:57,066 --> 00:26:59,833 and it's much harder to do what all of us are doing. 509 00:26:59,833 --> 00:27:04,233 I mean, to work with people who have to be worked with 510 00:27:04,233 --> 00:27:07,333 on a really equal, respectful basis for a long time 511 00:27:07,333 --> 00:27:09,100 before they are willing to work with you. 512 00:27:09,100 --> 00:27:11,666 - You know, it is hard for me as an artist 513 00:27:11,666 --> 00:27:16,666 to have that patience to listen and to wait and to trust. 514 00:27:19,066 --> 00:27:21,266 - Trouble is, we're so good at preaching to the choir, 515 00:27:21,266 --> 00:27:22,466 the activists are 516 00:27:22,466 --> 00:27:24,733 - Oh, we're good at that. 517 00:27:24,733 --> 00:27:26,133 I'm so good at that. 518 00:27:26,133 --> 00:27:27,733 (all laughs) 519 00:27:27,733 --> 00:27:28,600 - We're the choir. 520 00:27:30,900 --> 00:27:34,000 - Most people appreciate something handmade. 521 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:35,566 They appreciate something 522 00:27:35,566 --> 00:27:40,266 that looks like people made an effort that it's unusual. 523 00:27:40,266 --> 00:27:43,766 Sometimes it's humorous. We reach people 524 00:27:43,766 --> 00:27:45,266 in ways that are low tech. 525 00:27:45,266 --> 00:27:46,466 It's very direct. 526 00:27:46,466 --> 00:27:49,100 You know, you make something beautiful 527 00:27:49,100 --> 00:27:52,166 and you can hold it right at the front of the march. 528 00:27:52,166 --> 00:27:53,833 And people want to be seen with it, 529 00:27:53,833 --> 00:27:55,933 people want to photograph it. 530 00:27:55,933 --> 00:27:58,600 I'm really glad when young people work with us. 531 00:28:01,066 --> 00:28:04,666 I worry when I think about the future, 532 00:28:04,666 --> 00:28:06,400 who's going to carry on this work? 533 00:28:07,866 --> 00:28:11,500 It's really important to have young people come and join us. 534 00:28:14,500 --> 00:28:16,566 One of the banners we made was 535 00:28:16,566 --> 00:28:19,700 for the immigrant community in Maine, 536 00:28:19,700 --> 00:28:24,700 and it had painted lobster buoys hanging on a lobster shack 537 00:28:25,833 --> 00:28:27,866 and each one represented a different country. 538 00:28:27,866 --> 00:28:30,866 So you saw the flag of a country painted on it. 539 00:28:30,866 --> 00:28:33,533 And then somebody said, 540 00:28:33,533 --> 00:28:36,000 "Why don't you paint real buoys?" 541 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:38,000 This is a symbol of Maine, 542 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:40,000 the lobster buoys are everywhere in Maine 543 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,800 and tourists who come to Maine buy these things. 544 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,866 So we thought that if we put a flag 545 00:28:45,866 --> 00:28:48,733 and make one buoy per country, 546 00:28:48,733 --> 00:28:52,133 there's more than 70 countries that you guys come from, 547 00:28:52,133 --> 00:28:56,033 that we would paint flags on the buoys 548 00:28:56,033 --> 00:28:57,833 and we will hang them. 549 00:28:57,833 --> 00:28:59,066 Come on over guys. 550 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,466 I've got to assign you a country. 551 00:29:03,466 --> 00:29:06,300 I think there's somebody coming from Jordan. 552 00:29:06,300 --> 00:29:07,300 And you? 553 00:29:07,300 --> 00:29:08,800 - Turkey. - Turkey? 554 00:29:08,800 --> 00:29:13,200 There was an exhibit of 400 years of immigration in Maine 555 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:15,300 up at the Maine Historical Society. 556 00:29:15,300 --> 00:29:18,566 So we thought, let's work with a bunch of kids, 557 00:29:18,566 --> 00:29:21,133 in an afterschool program. 558 00:29:21,133 --> 00:29:25,133 And these kids were all children of refugees and immigrants. 559 00:29:27,566 --> 00:29:32,566 Our goal was going to be the 78 countries represented 560 00:29:33,433 --> 00:29:34,566 in the Portland School System. 561 00:29:34,566 --> 00:29:37,566 (people chattering) 562 00:29:38,733 --> 00:29:40,433 - [Male] He's doing the lines with a charcoal. 563 00:29:40,433 --> 00:29:43,433 (people chattering) 564 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:46,766 - And we hung them right 565 00:29:46,766 --> 00:29:49,066 on Congress Street in Portland. 566 00:29:49,066 --> 00:29:52,400 And they stayed there all through the winter, 567 00:29:52,400 --> 00:29:56,100 snow and rain, and we had some hanging from the tree, 568 00:29:56,100 --> 00:29:58,066 but they were all in front of the Longfellow House 569 00:29:58,066 --> 00:30:02,466 on that amazing iron fence. 570 00:30:02,466 --> 00:30:06,300 And so we kept making more, we kept making more 571 00:30:06,300 --> 00:30:10,100 and we made a complete set for the Jetport. 572 00:30:11,233 --> 00:30:14,366 And everybody arriving at the Jetport, 573 00:30:14,366 --> 00:30:17,600 will go right by the banner that we made 574 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:22,600 and they'll see 78 buoys hanging along the windows 575 00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:25,066 as they exit. 576 00:30:25,066 --> 00:30:27,566 And so we kept making more. 577 00:30:27,566 --> 00:30:32,066 We kept making more, and we made enough to hang 578 00:30:32,066 --> 00:30:35,900 in the skywalk at USM. 579 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:40,800 The day after the election, hundreds and hundreds 580 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:44,700 of post-it notes just started appearing 581 00:30:44,700 --> 00:30:47,733 hanging on the windows below these buoys, 582 00:30:47,733 --> 00:30:51,966 welcoming refugees saying, "We've got your back. 583 00:30:51,966 --> 00:30:52,800 We love you. 584 00:30:52,800 --> 00:30:53,766 We'll take care of you. 585 00:30:53,766 --> 00:30:55,766 We won't like ICE get you." 586 00:30:55,766 --> 00:30:57,900 You know, all sorts of messages of hope. 587 00:31:02,833 --> 00:31:07,200 (clanking ladder, chain) 588 00:31:24,833 --> 00:31:27,966 Finally, the day came for our trial. 589 00:31:27,966 --> 00:31:30,633 - Hearing in court is now in session. 590 00:31:30,633 --> 00:31:33,300 The Honorable Justice Daniel Billings presiding. 591 00:31:35,866 --> 00:31:38,433 - [Judge] That's not how this is supposed to work. 592 00:31:38,433 --> 00:31:41,133 The city, in considering whether it's a lawful order or not, 593 00:31:41,133 --> 00:31:44,100 has to consider the bigger picture 594 00:31:44,100 --> 00:31:48,133 and not simply focus on the views of BIW. 595 00:31:48,133 --> 00:31:51,266 - [Natasha] After the first day, the judge dismissed it 596 00:31:51,266 --> 00:31:54,800 because he said, "There's not a case here anymore." 597 00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:56,433 When he realized 598 00:31:56,433 --> 00:32:00,633 that the Bath Police Department was virtually working 599 00:32:00,633 --> 00:32:05,700 for BIW, Bath Iron Works, and we had a right to be there, 600 00:32:05,700 --> 00:32:08,033 but I'll keep protesting. 601 00:32:08,033 --> 00:32:10,600 This is my neighborhood, my community, 602 00:32:10,600 --> 00:32:12,200 and it's building these warships 603 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:15,033 and these are the best boat-builders in the world. 604 00:32:15,033 --> 00:32:16,366 I wish they were building something 605 00:32:16,366 --> 00:32:18,866 that wasn't so destructive. 606 00:32:18,866 --> 00:32:23,266 - All rise. 607 00:32:23,266 --> 00:32:26,266 (audience cheering, clapping) 608 00:32:33,033 --> 00:32:36,033 (missiles firing) 609 00:32:41,700 --> 00:32:43,600 ('splat' sound effects) 610 00:32:49,233 --> 00:32:51,700 (birds) 611 00:32:59,333 --> 00:33:02,266 (murmuring voices in distance/water splashing) 612 00:33:10,100 --> 00:33:13,433 - So we're gonna go up and over the cat. 613 00:33:13,433 --> 00:33:16,766 Every year, there's a 4th of July parade here in Whitefield 614 00:33:16,766 --> 00:33:19,300 and being in it is one of the favorite things I do 615 00:33:19,300 --> 00:33:20,766 as an artist. 616 00:33:20,766 --> 00:33:24,433 A bunch of us get together to plan a theme for the float 617 00:33:24,433 --> 00:33:26,666 and then we march in the parade. 618 00:33:26,666 --> 00:33:29,100 One year, it was about "Saving the Bees," 619 00:33:29,100 --> 00:33:31,933 and another year it was "Buy Local." 620 00:33:33,633 --> 00:33:36,666 And the theme another year was "Climate Change". 621 00:33:40,433 --> 00:33:45,066 And another year we did drones with a surveillance theme. 622 00:33:45,066 --> 00:33:46,800 Sometimes we're just silly that way 623 00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:50,766 and sometimes it's poking fun at issues, 624 00:33:50,766 --> 00:33:52,500 and a way to get together 625 00:33:52,500 --> 00:33:54,233 with other friends in the community 626 00:33:54,233 --> 00:33:57,166 and do something that would be meaningful, 627 00:33:57,166 --> 00:34:00,400 not just fun, but layer it, with a little meaning, 628 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:03,466 layer it with a little more serious meaning 629 00:34:03,466 --> 00:34:05,566 as these years got more serious. 630 00:34:05,566 --> 00:34:10,566 So here I am, I'm drawing a Trump guy with a wall. 631 00:34:11,666 --> 00:34:12,866 So thinking that that was gonna be it. 632 00:34:12,866 --> 00:34:15,833 And here, I'm drawing some guard towers, 633 00:34:15,833 --> 00:34:17,633 - oval round eggshell. 634 00:34:17,633 --> 00:34:20,833 This will help hold it stiff. 635 00:34:20,833 --> 00:34:24,133 (laughter) 636 00:34:24,133 --> 00:34:28,333 And there'll be a hole, face hole cut here. 637 00:34:29,533 --> 00:34:31,833 I've got a lot of props, I've got a lot of ideas 638 00:34:31,833 --> 00:34:33,400 and I don't know how many people are gonna show up 639 00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:37,066 and a lot of people just don't let me know until 640 00:34:37,066 --> 00:34:38,666 the night before they'll call up and say, 641 00:34:38,666 --> 00:34:39,566 "Oh, could I be in it?" 642 00:34:39,566 --> 00:34:41,700 That's the role that I play. 643 00:34:41,700 --> 00:34:43,833 Maybe the trickster role, maybe a little bit 644 00:34:43,833 --> 00:34:47,700 the prankster and the jokester. 645 00:34:47,700 --> 00:34:50,300 (upbeat music) 646 00:34:59,300 --> 00:35:01,233 ...kind of be moving slowly. 647 00:35:02,266 --> 00:35:03,900 Okay, it has to lay... 648 00:35:03,900 --> 00:35:05,366 - Pull it down more, 649 00:35:05,366 --> 00:35:08,566 and it should go maybe in-between your legs, yeah. 650 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:13,033 (drum marching music) 651 00:35:13,033 --> 00:35:15,900 (engine roaring) 652 00:35:15,900 --> 00:35:18,900 (crowd/sirens) 653 00:35:22,233 --> 00:35:25,400 One year somebody threw eggs at us, 654 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:27,600 but most of the time people are curious, 655 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:29,400 they might love us, 656 00:35:29,400 --> 00:35:30,700 they might hate us 657 00:35:30,700 --> 00:35:32,700 but they come to see what we're gonna do. 658 00:35:33,700 --> 00:35:36,566 (drumming marching music) 659 00:35:40,466 --> 00:35:45,466 (Yankee Doodle fife & drum music) 660 00:35:46,866 --> 00:35:50,466 When somebody gets in touch with their creativity, 661 00:35:50,466 --> 00:35:54,100 I think that that's when they feel they have a power 662 00:35:54,100 --> 00:35:55,700 and they have a sense of themselves 663 00:35:55,700 --> 00:35:58,200 and that they can do anything. 664 00:35:58,200 --> 00:36:02,166 And if you can create something out of nothing, 665 00:36:02,166 --> 00:36:05,433 you have the power to affect change, 666 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:10,100 and to feel good about who you are. 667 00:36:10,100 --> 00:36:11,966 So that's been a motivation 668 00:36:11,966 --> 00:36:14,666 for me for many years in teaching 669 00:36:14,666 --> 00:36:16,633 and that's where I have a lot of hope 670 00:36:16,633 --> 00:36:19,100 that this younger generation, 671 00:36:19,100 --> 00:36:20,933 is going to be telling the truth, 672 00:36:20,933 --> 00:36:23,200 is going be asking important questions, 673 00:36:23,200 --> 00:36:26,933 is going be making us change our ways, 674 00:36:26,933 --> 00:36:29,333 and we have to follow them. 675 00:36:29,333 --> 00:36:34,133 (Yankee Doodle marching music fades...to skates on ice) 676 00:37:04,033 --> 00:37:06,533 (upbeat piano music)