The San Francisco Poster Syndicate produced a portfolio in conjunction with the Women of the Resistance mural in Balmy Alley, featuring the women represented in the mural to bring further awareness to the important fight of these strong activists.

Women of the Resistance - Lara Kiswani, designed by Megan Wilson, technical/graphic support by Drake Manalo, printed by Sun Night Editions

Women of the Resistance Portfolio Project

The portfolio complements the Balmy Alley mural, which was completed in 2018, by creating screenprints of all 38 women portrayed. This project highlights this group of women who are powerful beacons of hope during these dark times and hopes inspire others to continue moving forward along their path of resistance.

The 38 screenprints in the portfolio includes one poster dedicated to each of the women plus a screenprint reproduction of the mural printed by Sun Night Editions. All prints in an edition of 20 were printed on Cougar Natural Smooth 100# Cover paper. The portfolio case is bound and designed by Sam Companatico with assistance from Asa Nakata, also has an explanatory graphic of the mural that shows who is represented, who the artist is and where the activist is in the mural. The portfolio is available for $350. Individual prints from the series will also be available at the exhibition for $45 each.

Artists include Sarah Aineb, Juan R. Fuentes, Mafer Hernandez, Joanna Ruckman, Michael Keum, Fernanda Parker, Elmíto González, Michelle Williams, Lucia Ippolito, Art Hazelwood. Steph Kudisch, Jer Garver, Adrianna Adams, Megan Wilson (technical/graphic support from Drake Manalo), Adan Tope Ruckman-Gallegos & Jessica Beard, Lauren D'Amato, Michelle Rios, Aambr Newsome, Carlos Rodriguez Alvarez, Sonia "G" Molina, Carlos Rodriguez Alvarez, Rachael Sterner, Christopher Statton & Christina de la Cruz, Whitney Humphreys.

Process

Participating Poster Syndicate artists selected one or more of the 38 women to create a poster representation that included: 1) an image of the woman featured; 2) a quote from or description of the activist; and 3) their name.

Wilson selected Lara Kiswani, Executive Director of the Arab Resource Organizing Center (AROC). Having worked together on several collaborative projects between AROC and Clarion Alley Mural Project, Wilson chose Kiswani based on her deep respect for Kiswani’s fierce spirit and ability to organize, strategize, and succeed at seemingly impossible feats in the name of social/political justice.

Wilson initially approached Kiswani to ask if she would be okay with her designing the poster. Kiswani graciously agreed and Wilson provided her with a general idea for the poster: the poster would feature Kiswani, as well as other women from AROC who are part of the collective team that supports the leadership and critical work of the organization and greater community goals - along with a quote that captures the spirit of Lara’s and AROC’s work.

From there Lara provided Wilson with a series of photographs taken from various actions in recent years. Wilson selected the image from a protest against Urban Shield. AROC was part of the Stop Urban Shield coalition, working to put an end to the largest militarized SWAT training program in the world. After years of the coalition’s work to organize and resist the war games training and weapons expo, on March 27, 2018 the Alameda County Board of Supervisors voted to put an end to Urban Shield as of 2019.

Wilson used an image of Kiswani with a bullhorn from a protest that worked well as the centerpiece backdrop for the image of the AROC activists with signs from the Urban Shield protest. Wilson then re-used elements from her Bangkit/Arise Palestine! poster, including the butterfly with cat and the keffiyeh patterns. The designs were used in combination with bold gold, red, green, white, and black features. Wilson selected a quote from an event on Clarion Alley that Lara was a featured speaker - in honor of three new murals in support of Palestinian and Arab liberation. One of the murals is titled “The Will To Live.”

Designer Drake Manalo provided Wilson with much needed computer graphic assistance, as well as working with her on selecting the font and working together to design the graphic space. Thank you Drake!

The posters were printed by Sun Night Editions Press.