The Student Leader Fellowship Program (SLFP) hosted an event Friday, March 14, where students learned about protest art while creating their own. 

Students showed their support for many different causes through their protest art, allowing discussion to flow about them. 

This event not only provided a learning opportunity for students about protesting and the beliefs of others, but it also allowed them to meet new friends.

Rebecca Daly, assistant professor and team member of the Lydia M. Olson Library, discussed protest art. As students settled into their seats, she began with a slideshow in which she showed examples of protest art from the past.

“Protest art is a variety of media that is created specifically to make a statement about current political or global issues. It can take the form of professional fine art, art like poster art or button making, art that is created by the general population,” Daly said. “There’s a long history of protest art, whether it is formal through organizations or created by individuals. There [are] also a lot of professional artists who create protest art.”

The focus of these past art pieces ranged from the Civil Rights Movement, Women’s Rights Movement and Anti-War Movement to AIDS and Healthcare Rights.

“Protest art is all about challenging the status quo. It’s about highlighting issues and bringing attention to issues for other citizens to engage with,” Daly said.

After the slideshow, students got to create their own forms of protest art for specific causes they wanted to address and support.

“I’m here because I’m really interested in the history of protest art, and I think it’s very relevant to the modern day,” NMU student Iris Bailey said. “I’m interested in political protest, especially today, relating to the current government situation, and in general, I’m a big proponent of things like the march for women’s rights and other similar organizations.”

Another NMU student, Lana Mac, was making buttons for her protest art.

“I’m really interested in protest art, and I felt like it’d be like a fun way to meet other people that were passionate about the same thing, as well as craft on a Friday too,” Mac said. “My buttons are focusing on what’s going on with Palestine, the current administration and spreading positiveness to other communities.”