Ricardo Levins Morales Art Studio Favorite 

Ricardo Levins Morales is an artist and organizer based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was born into the anti-colonial movement in Puerto Rico, and when his family moved to Chicago in 1967, he became interested in activism. After leaving high school early, he worked in various industries and began to use art as part of his activism work. Morales’ activism has included support for farmers, environmental labor, racial justice, and groups such as the Black Panthers, Young Lords. In 1979 he helped found the Northland Poster Collective. Throughout his life, he has used art as a form of political medicine to support individual and collective healing from the injuries and reality of oppression.

For 52 years, Ricardo Levins Morales’ art has helped tell the story of labor and other social justice movements but rarely featured in galleries. In 2009, he opened his own storefront, RLM Studio, in Minneapolis, and his own website rlmartstudio.com. Today the art studio is comprised of Morales and five other artists, all working together to create conditions for an oppression-free, sustainable future through art and organizing. The art studio focuses on making posters, t-shirts, and buttons as tools for organizers and supporters. They make custom buttons for organizations, and their poster collection covers a range of topics, from labor to spirit and wisdom. Before he makes a new piece, he always researches the topic and encourages others to do so. The Ricardo Levins Morales (RLM) Art Studio takes their art a step further by leading workshops on creative organizing, social justice strategy, sustainable activism, and mentoring and supporting organizers. RLM Art Studio recently started making zines titled “RLM on Organizing” to teach younger generations the strategies and tactics of successful organizing.