CommuniTee-Shirts
I've been doing these events since 2020 to give people a chance to screen print a shirt to be involved and support the community and current social issues. There's no cost as it's funded by the commercial poster screen printing I do for the music industry and falls under what I call my Good Ink Missions. A little more history below if you're curious. Otherwise grab a shirt, some friends, and stop by to get involved and join the conversations. All ages welcome!
How it Works
Bring your own T-Shirt(s) and FREE blank shirts at the event: Limit 1 free shirt per person while supplies last. You can bring additional shirts or totes and print 1 extra item at a time. Additional items are OK, but will request you hop back in line to allow others the chance to print their first item.
PLEASE NOTE: items need to be smooth, no pockets, zippers, etc. in print area otherwise printing will be splotchy.
Printing is FREE: with a little guidance, and if you're up for it, you can screen print your own shirt. There are hand-held dryers so you can dry the shirts and start supporting right away!
Shirt Sizes: adult S-XXL Colors: neutral colors, white and grey
Sorry no kids sizes, but they are welcome to bring a shirt!
It started as a Protest. It turned into a Mission.
I am a poster screen printer and for many years I've used my resources to design and screen print posters to give away at marches/protests. My hope is people will like them enough to keep and put on their walls as a reminder as to why they were there that day. In 2020, shortly after George Floyd was murdered, a bunch of us handed out 1,000's of prints at protests over several weeks.
But in the middle of the night (Tuesday, June 2) I woke up with the idea that the designs should go on shirts as then people could be wearing the messages out in public to support the community. That same morning I scrambled to get information on the website, posted on social media letting people know they could walk up, hand me a shirt, and I would print them a shirt for free. Exactly 2 people showed up...
I wasn't too discouraged as I believed in the idea. So I took the photo of the 2 that showed up and scheduled another event for the the upcoming Saturday and promoted all week. 60+ people showed up and we printed around 100 shirts. It gave me hope and I called the events LiberTees and hosted twice a month leading up to the 2020 election. It continued once a month for the next 2 years including a design that went viral in 2022 and raised $14,500 to support abortion rights.
2023 was less frequent with only 2 events, so for 2024 I committed to refocusing and relaunched in January and February. But in March a new studio opportunity came and Ink Lounge relocated a few miles south to Englewood. I love the new studio for so many reasons including it's only 12 blocks from home, but It is smaller requiring me to reconsider how to go about running the events if at all.
So in moving ahead for 2024, the mission was renamed CommuniTees and along with studio events, I reached out to community focused organizations to host the printing at their location. Also new for 2024 I used the fees from a specific poster project thats allowing me to donate shirts. We printed 100+ shirts for PRIDE, 400+ election shirts, and sold 50+ yard signs where 100% of the sales ($1,000) was donated to a local youth nonprofit.
I continue to be optimistic with the mission and hope to see you at an upcoming event.
Many thanks for your support. Please share and follow along on Instagram.
#privilegewithpurpose
2024 Event Photos: Voting / Peace in Palestine / Chinese NY / Pride is a Protest / How Watermelon Became a Symbol of Palestinian Resistance READ ARTICLE
Play Video: 2020 Pre-Election Events to Support Voting
