Artists stage Presidents' Day performance protest across Twin Cities

By Jessie Bekker, Star Tribune

February 21, 2017 at 3:46AM
University of Minnesota students Seth Campbell (center), Parker Sturlaugson and Hayley Kopp perform a mime piece with instructor Kym Longhi (right). ] MARK VANCLEAVE ï mark.vancleave@startribune.com * Artists performed a handful of public performance art pieces as part of THIS MACHINE (Not My President's Day), protesting recent actions by President Donald Trump across Minneapolis late Monday afternoon on Feb. 20, 2017.
University of Minnesota students Seth Campbell, Parker Sturlaugson and Hayley Kopp performed a mime piece on Monday with instructor Kym Longhi. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Artists and performers showcased their work throughout the Twin Cities on Monday as part of a national Presidents' Day movement to use artistic expression to protest President Donald Trump.

Musicians, dancers and spoken-word artists wearing orange performed at bus stops in Minneapolis and St. Paul from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. "to directly combat the propaganda machine, the money machine, the hate machine, in service of integrity, empowerment, and humanity," according to a Facebook event page.

The event, called "This Machine (Not My President's Day Minneapolis Saint Paul)," concluded at the Red Stag Supperclub with performances and a celebration. It was one of several such events planned nationwide by a coalition of anti-Trump activists.

The name was a nod to Woody Guthrie's "This Machine Kills ­Fascists" 1941 guitar sticker, and the event was meant to show "the power of these artists to commune and become greater than themselves as individuals," said Jess Kiel-Wornson, co-organizer and multimedia artist.

Jessie Bekker is a University of Minnesota student on assignment for the Star Tribune.

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about the writer

Jessie Bekker, Star Tribune

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