(Logo design by Nijel Taylor!)

SO excited to officially announce today #CollectiveActionPHL, a silent art auction to raise money for 10 local and national social justice organizations that will be on the front lines during Trump’s presidency.

Collective Action will take place the weekend prior to Trump’s inauguration on Saturday, January 14th, 2017 from 6-9pm at 990 Spring Garden Street in Philadelphia, PA. We seek to raise $20,000 thanks to the generous donations of over 100 Philadelphia-area artists who’ve donated work.

WHO: Collective Action
WHAT: A silent art auction to raise money for 10 local and national social justice organizations that will be on the front lines during Trump’s presidency
WHEN: Saturday, January 14th (2017) from 6-9pm
WHERE: 990 Spring Garden Street
WHY: Collective Action is a direct response to the election of Donald Trump and to the increasingly dangerous, self-serving people he has brought into his administration.

Organized by a group of motivated and passionate Philadelphians led by Grace Ahn, Jacob Klensin, Brooke Di Leone, Daniel Levine, and Streets Dept’s Founder/Editor Conrad Benner, all of the proceeds raised by Collective Action will be donated evenly to the 10 following social justice organizations*: Planned Parenthood, Mazzoni Center, Juntos, Al Aqsa Islamic Academy, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Network of Abortion Funds, International Refugee Assistance Project, and the Natural Resources Defense Council.

(*Please note: neither this event nor its organizers are directly affiliated with any of the organizations listed. These organizations have not officially endorsed this event. Collective Action is an independent endeavor seeking to provide support for groups fighting for social justice.)

The initial idea for Collective Action came from Grace Ahn the week after the election. After reaching out to and brainstorming with the other four co-organizers including myself, our auction was originally planned to take place in mid-December at a small local bar with about 10 artists and a fundraising goal of $2,500. After a single call-to-artists on Facebook, however, we collectively received messages from well over 150 local artists who were interested in contributing work. Elated, we then pushed back the auction to the week of Trump’s inauguration, when we feel people’s discontentment at the reality of Trump’s Presidency will lead to an increased desire for protest and action. We found a much larger venue. And we raised our fundraising goal.

Some the amazing artists donating work to Collective Action include: Aubrie Costello, Adam Englehart, Joe Boruchow, Michelle Angela Ortiz, Ana Mañana, Amberella with Philadelphia Woodcraft Company, Angela McQuillen, Bianca DePietro, Dominic Episcopo, Alana Bograd, Catzie Vilayphonh, Felt+Fat, Jaiya Bhandari, Feminist Apparel, Monica O, Mackenzie Vaughan Pikaart, Gregory Maxim, Noah Levey, Brendan Lowry (aka Peopledelphia), Sam Heimer, Jessica Gamble, Krista Dedrick Lai, Kristin Schattenfield-Rein, Billy Cress, Sean 9 Lugo, Kelly Kozma, Jen Cleary, Sean Brown, Stephen Megargee, Low Level, Luke Cloran, Tamsen Wojtanowski, Shawn Hileman (aka Masthead Print Studio), Thomas Buildmore, Ryan Strand Greenberg,  Emma Fried-Cassorla (aka Philly Love Notes), Sean Martorana, Zoe Cohen, Darla Jackson, and many many MANY more! 

Rest assured that there almost certainly will be something for whatever price range you’re working with, the minimum bids for our donating artists’ work range widely.

(A few examples of some of the donated  artwork, click HERE and HERE to see more!)

Collective Action is a direct response to the election of Donald Trump and to the increasingly dangerous, self-serving people he has brought into his administration. We (the organizers) are eager to do something. To do something to combat what will likely be right-(possibly “alt-right”)-leaning policies. To defend the progress we as a country have made, and fight for the progress we still need to make. We see that many other Philadelphians feel this same hunger for constructive action, and we invite anyone ready to defend progressive American values to join us!

If you like this idea you can help us in a MAJOR way by doing the two following things to help us to spread the word about this event: 1) Share this post on all your social medias using #CollectiveActionPHL, 2) Invite your friends to our Facebook Event Page (HERE)… See y’all on January 14th!