Chandler O’Leary and Jessica Spring are back in action after issuing their ninth in the series of feminist broadside prints, “Drill, Baby, Drill,” which was a response to the British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in April. Not artists to back away from controversy and heated topics, the two women have now chosen Senate Bill 1070, the State of Arizona’s contentious new immigration reform bill, as the inspiration for their newest piece in the series, “On a Mission.”

The dead feminist chosen whose quote fills the middle of the broadside and lent inspiration to the entire piece was Tejana activist Adina De Zavala, who made it her own personal mission to protect and preserve the Alamo from the late 1800s until her death in 1955. She faced challenges and controversy by stating “There was nothing else for me to do but hold the fort. So I did.”

Spring affirmed that she and O’Leary had a few reasons for choosing De Zavala.

“We picked De Zavala because the quote is compelling and Chandler was interested in the imagery associated with the Southwest that also have connections to native and immigrant cultures there,” Spring said. “We also picked her because of her own ethnic mix - she had a Mexican father and an Irish mother. We decided to include imagery that wasn’t specifically Texan, like the saguaro cactus, as a reference to Arizona because of SB 1070. Some of our other broadsides have issues we feel are really clear cut for us, like equal rights (to vote, to marry). In this piece we want to remind people about what makes our country so great: that mix of cultures, ethnicities and religions that can also contribute to conflicts.”

This particular broadside also took a bit longer to make in terms of illustration by O’Leary, Spring noted. “Chandler worked on this longer than most of the previous pieces because of the detail of the drawings, especially in multiple colors. We definitely had much more discussion of what imagery to include than the approach we’d take in the colophon, (the explanatory text including de Zavala’s bio). The printing took three days because our edition is the largest to date yet: 175 copies.”

Though the artists definitely had challenges in term of design, both felt that the larger hurdle to jump in terms of their newest piece was definitely the politics inherently involved with it that they face head-on with the work.

“It was a lot trickier in terms of the issues,” Spring said. “We wanted to be very clear we weren’t advocating against immigrants. I’ve heard people using the rallying cry ‘Remember the Alamo’ as an excuse to build fences along our borders or encourage freelance posse groups - this is not what we’re supporting. Americans are frustrated with the economy, lack of jobs and political infighting but the solution should not be hatred and intolerance.”

In addition to creating art that hearkens to the past through strong female leaders and fighters for rights, the dead feminist broadside series also donates money to a different cause each time the broadsides are released. For “On a Mission,” the cause supported is the Northwest Immigrants Rights Project (NWIRP).

“We’re hoping some money and possibly attention to a non-profit is something we can do in addition to the series. I know a lawyer who did pro bono work for NWIRP representing immigrants and the stories she shared of the cases she worked on were both heartbreaking and inspiring. For clients that have been victims of torture or domestic violence, NWIRP can be the first step in rebuilding a life here in the United States,” Spring affirmed.

This 10th broadside in the dead feminist series will be done in time for Art at Work month in November, when fans of the women’s work can check out where it is done during the Studio Tours as well.

It can be difficult for artists to put their feelings regarding political movements and events into their work due to fear of how the work will be interpreted or how they will be received. To put those beliefs out in the open in a beautifully created, heartfelt way is an extremely admirable, bold and rousing feat that will ensure O’Leary and Spring are inspirations to other artists for years to come.

“On a Mission” was illustrated by O’Leary and printed by Spring. In total, 175 copies were printed by hand at Springtide Press in Tacoma in August.

For more information on O’Leary and Spring, check out their websites at anagram-press.com and www.springtidepress.com. To purchase the newest or one of the past dead feminist broadsides, visit the artists’ Etsy shop at www.etsy.com/shop/anagrampress.

Contact the writer at dquinn@tacomaweekly.com.