Mutual Aid Art Fair
Published 1:30 am Wednesday, June 4, 2025
by Jenna Reed
8 Hands Press
“Craft night gone wild,” we joke about the origin of the Mutual Aid Art Fair. Silly, and true. What started as four friends getting together to make art in the long winter evenings turned into taking block prints to protests and Earth Day this spring to raise funds for the Local Immigrant Family Treasury “LIFT” Fund. At both events, people asked where else they could find us, and who “we” were. So, we made a name – 8 Hands Press – and we planned an event – the Mutual Aid Art Fair.
The Mutual Aid Art Fair, which took place on Memorial Day, combines things the 8 Hands Press team loves: art and political action through mutual aid. Our team, Bailey Quishenberry, Mads Hall, Aurora Fackler-Adams and Jenna Reed, are all artists painters, paper-makers, illustrators, knitters, and now: printers. We dreamed up an event where we could make political action less scary, more inclusive, more joyful, and more beautiful. And then we called on our community to make it happen.
What is mutual aid? Mutual aid is, as Dean Spade, puts it, “the radical act of caring for each other while working to change the world.” It’s a solidarity over charity model that aims for people to give what they can so people get what they need. Over 14 artists and community members came together by donating artwork, supplies and volunteering time to make this 0% profit fair happen. The Odd Fellows Hall was transformed into part art fair, part science fair and part community hang-out.
In addition to local art, there were engagement tables for writing letters to elected officials, designing your own library card, creating zines, learning about local seeds and plants, and – of course – live block printing. The “Orcas Connect” table included resources for volunteer sign-ups, reading group sign-ups, information on upcoming legal clinics, Naloxone distribution and other local resources. The “Engage!” table featured information about local, state, national and international political news and actions. There was information on open San Juan County Board and Committee positions, recently passed Washington bills that our District 40 reps worked on, our District 2 Federal reps, and Palestinian support actions.
In hopes of a big turnout, we chose three organizations to support: Skagit Legal Aid, the LIFT Fund and the Community Resource Center’s Bilingual Community Health Worker Program. In just a few hours we saw about 70 community members and raised almost $2,000. Without the support of the community, executing this event and raising these funds wouldn’t have been possible.
Contact us at eighthandspress@proton.me.
