[Under Construction] Paint the Streets | The Info Pack
This chapter is under construction - please use the live Paint the Streets doc in the meantime
THE INFO PACK
This document contains advice for groups taking part in XR’s Paint The Streets: murals, stickering, flyposting, stencilling, chalking, banner drop actions and subvertising bus stops and billboards.
If you have a question which we haven't covered, please add a comment to the relevant section. This pack is a work in progress and is updated regularly
Join the:
CONTENTS
PAINT THE STREETS INTRO
- What is Paint the Streets?
- Why is Paint the Streets great for outreach and mobilisation?
- Who can take part?
- What can I do?
- How do I plan it?
CAMPAIGNS & MESSAGING
- What Paint the Streets campaigns can I get involved in?
- Guidelines
- Slogans
- XR Logo
- Share your work
RESOURCES
- Art
- Text
- Printing
TACTICS & TECHNIQUES
FLYPOSTING
- How do I flypost?
- How do I organise a fly-posting group?
- What materials do I need for fly-posting?
- How can I get posters printed?
- Can I order posters for my own group?
- What are suggested Action Tactics?
- What is a suitable target?
STENCILLING
- How do I make a stencil?
- Is there a list of materials and suppliers for environmentally friendly sprays/paint etc?
- Is it okay to spray paint local businesses?
- What about spraying over existing artwork?
- How do I create reverse graffiti?
BANNERS
- How do I make a banner?
- Where can I hang a banner?
- How do I carry out a banner drop on a motorway bridge?
- What about safety?
MURALS
- How do I organise / paint a mural?
SUBVERTISING
- What is Subvertising?
- How do I get into a bus stop?
- Where can I get bus stop ads printed?
- What can I print?
- What are the legal implications?
FAQs
- How do I join an existing Paint the Streets group?
- How do we coordinate campaigns with other local groups?
- Can I create my own campaign?
- Is doing an action like chalking / flyposting going to get me arrested?
- Police liaison
- Legal advice
- Is there funding available for materials?
PAINT THE STREETS INTRO
What is Paint the Streets?
Paint the Streets is an ongoing creative campaign, breaking social norms to raise awareness about the climate & ecological emergency. Paint the Streets includes murals, stickering, flyposting, stencilling, chalking, banner drop actions and subvertising bus stops and billboards.
Join a UK-wide campaign - or launch your own local campaign around local climate issues.
What are the aims of Paint the Streets?
- Paint The Streets actions use images to tell the truth about climate breakdown, ecological collapse, and the injustice of our toxic system and failing governments
- Create an action pathway and build confidence for new rebels
- Move hearts and minds
- Grow the movement through organic, creative participation
- Remind the world that politics is failing but there are solutions and hope
- Break the media echo chamber by reaching new audiences
- Have fun!
Why is Paint the Streets great for outreach and mobilisation?
Paint The Streets is a brilliant way to get rebels motivated and connected! It also builds awareness of your communities’ public spaces and the ubiquity of advertising billboards. It gives rebels a taste of nonviolent direct action - helping to build confidence - and sparks a space for affinity groups to form.
Paint the Streets actions are often relatively quick to carry out, and simple to join in; they are great for rebels who would like to be involved but don’t have lots of spare time.
By bringing creative, inspiring and thought-provoking messaging in public spaces, we can reach a wider audience to highlight important climate issues and campaigns, as well as calls to action (and then spread them even further through sharing these images across social media).
Who can take part?
Anyone in XR! There are creative actions for everyone from flyposting and making stencils to mural painting, creating street sculptures to folding origami offerings. For rebels to take part we ask that you are mindful of our core Principles & Values and Demands as well as strategy guidance.
What can I do?
- Paint The Symbol
- Make stencils for posters and painting with Spray-chalk or emulsion paint
- Sticker up your walks or on your bins
- Print out window posters or make your own window art
- Flyposting
- Brandalism and subvertising: replacing bus stop posters with your own work or repurposing an existing advert to change the message, postering billboards, replacing adverts on train / tube carriages
- Guerrilla gardening #Rewild public spaces
- Give posters to friends, shops, community centres etc to put up in their windows as effective outreach
- Train Talks - stand on public transport and speak the truth to fellow passengers wearing badges and patches, for more information check out their Train Talks Telegram group
- Banner drops - there are frequent UK-wide banner drop actions, or create your own for a local climate issue
- Murals - create beautiful art with a climate based message on a wall/building (if you have permission to do so)
- And much more!
How do I plan it?
Use this checklist for guidance on how to plan a Paint the Streets action:
CAMPAIGNS & MESSAGING
What Paint the Streets campaigns can I get involved in?
Join the Paint the Streets Telegram chat for updates on the latest campaigns. And for Design Packs, when they are released!
Here is the ongoing UK-wide Paint The Symbol campaign [LINK NEEDED].
Or launch your own local/regional campaign about local climate issues. What kind of messaging should we use?
We advise checking the latest strategy doc, and consulting your Media & Messaging and actions group closely before producing new messaging or print materials.
Paint The Streets Slogans
XR’s three demands and original slogans can be found in the Paint The Streets slogans document.
The XR logo
The logo is called the ‘symbol’. Join the Paint The Symbol campaign. It up to your local group if the XR logo feels appropriate in your area. Some groups have found that building up other imagery (such as the painted vines) can make a strong statement before adding the XR logo at a later stage.
Note: The logo is copyrighted and not to be used for commercial purposes. Check out the XR design guidelines; you can get more info from xrdesigngroup@gmail.com including the design programme.
When you post photos of your action to social media, please remember to include the relevant hashtag for your campaign, along with #paintthestreets (this helps us find them so we can share!).