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Don't Move Out! poster cover by Jesse Reklaw
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PRESS RELEASE / FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Free poster project explains housing foreclosure, provides tool for resistance
Don't Move Out! Poster Release
Saturday, December 15, 2PM
Cost: Free, open to public
Location: TBA: an empty foreclosed home in SE Portland. Address will be announced one week in advance.
Contact: Marc Moscato | p: (971) 717-7307 | e: marc@dillpickleclub.org
Alejandro Juarez | p: (805) 886-7175 | e: alejandro@weareoregon.org
Portland, OR - (November 20, 2012)
On Saturday, December 15th, We Are Oregon (WAO) and Dill Pickle Club (DPC) partner to release "Don't Move Out! Foreclosure resistance in Portland". 5,000 of the full-color oversized posters 40" x 26" will be distributed for free to property owners facing evictions, as well as made available in libraries, small businesses and community gathering places. The poster, which unfolds in a map-style layout, is intricately illustrated by comic artist Jesse Reklaw, and is translated in Spanish on the back. The piece is funded by a grant from Sappi Fine Paper's Ideas That Matter grant program (http://www.na.sappi.com/ideasthatmatterNA/).
The release event will be held at an empty home in SE home that has sat vacant since the family who owned it was foreclosed on last year. Blight, in the form of empty homes, is one of the results of the foreclosure crisis, with empty homes standing in stark contrast to homelessness and affordable housing crises. The event will feature a short program, with talks by the artist, people who are resisting foreclosure and partnering organizations. Voodoo Donuts and Courier Coffee will provide refreshments
"When people hear about folks fighting foreclosure, sometimes their reaction is to blame the victim and place responsibility for the crisis on the individual borrowers" said Angus Maguire, of WAO. "This poster is a great tool because it shows clearly how it isn't so cut and dry. Banks and developers bear responsibility for the ongoing crisis, and this poster will help us reach more folks as we organize to hold banks and developers accountable. Working with the Dill Pickle Club and Jesse Reklaw, to visualize and explain a complicated situation in a compelling format, has been a fun and rewarding process."
Don't Move Out! is the first in a series of fold-out posters DPC is creating that aims to add vitality to crucial debates about Portland's future, while creating opportunities for designers to engage with social issues. Each poster is the product of a commissioned collaboration between a designer, advocacy organization and DPC. The project is inspired by Making Policy Public, a program of the Center for Urban Pedagogy.
"The housing foreclosure issue is complex and difficult to understand." says DPC Executive Director Marc Moscato. "This poster - through bold graphics and a comic book format - provides a useful tool for citizens to know what to do when this happens to them. This project is exciting because it combines policymaking with great design, to educate Portlanders about some of the policies that affect their lives."
The general public is invited to the release. Media are also invited to attend. Following the release, the poster will be available for free download from the DPC website (http://dillpickleclub.org/).
"It's rare that I get to express my political beliefs so directly in my work," says cartoonist and poster designer Jesse Reklaw. "I've enjoyed every step of the process, from learning about the problems and meeting the real people (my neighbors!) who are struggling with them, to developing a resistance strategy with the astute media guerillas at We Are Oregon. This is a dream job, and I can't appreciate enough the efforts of the Dill Pickle Club in promoting both social justice and local political awareness - two great things that go well together."
ARTIST BIO
Jesse Reklaw is the creator of the nationally syndicated comic strip Slow Wave and author of Dreamtoons, The Night of Your Life, and Couch Tag. He lives in SE Portland.
ABOUT WE ARE OREGON
We Are Oregon is a non-profit organization working communities across Portland on issues that affect working people. With people coming together to fight foreclosures, our communities are doing what government has been unable to do: hold banks accountable for crashing our economy and profiting from the pain of our communities. More information available at www.weareoregon.org
ABOUT THE DILL PICKLE CLUB
The Dill Pickle Club is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to broaden knowledge of Portland's past, present and future. To fulfill our mission, we organize tours, lectures, publications and school programs to better connect Portlanders to their city. Founded in 2009, we are a volunteer-driven organization, with a shared belief in the vitality of community education and democracy.
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