“Stop Chicken Me Out!”

“Stop Chicken Me Out” is the name of Collin’s original poster series and subsequent year-long campaign of youth and community-wide arts programming as a recipient of the City of Tacoma’s Tacoma Artist Initiative Program (TAIP) in 2018. Beginning as a project to create youth-focused images around identity affirmation and interpersonal violence prevention, “Chicken” expanded into a series of shows and community workshops in which youth and adults were asked to contribute their own affirmation postcards and posters.

orange background with a black and white spotted chicken looking forward. Text says "stop chicken me out! street harassment's NOT COOL!"
Fun Fact: I started this poster series because my landlord had chickens that kept escaping into my old yard. @artbycollz

Educational Arts Programming: Collin worked with youth leaders from the Peer Education Empowerment League (PEEL) to facilitate workshops across WA state, meeting with local Gender Spectrum Alliance middle school groups, elementary school programs, LGBTQIA+ youth organizations, families and adults who work with youth. Through these, community members connected and learned about prevention education, youth advocacy, and self-expression through art. Collin’s “Stop Chicken Me Out!” art show in October 2018 featured their complete poster series and the works of youth artists who participated in their workshops the year prior.

  • postcard making @ “Stop Chicken Me Out!” first show
  • community workshop postcard making
  • workshop on combining art and prevention education
  • postcards at the show
  • Collz with musician Atom Hill who performed original pieces at the show! ❤
  • consent rocks
  • GSA poster
  • GSA workshop poster
  • PEEL art project
  • elementary school workshop poster
  • elementary school workshop poster
  • elementary school workshop poster
  • PEEL leaders tabling at the art show ❤
  • Rowan Carrick and Coby Tamayo performing @ “Stop Chicken Me Out”
  • more postcards
  • postcards up at Tacoma coffee shop (Stop #2)
  • GSA workshop poster
  • Collz with friends @ “Stop Chicken Me Out!”

“Chicken’s” Journey After: “Chicken” then went on the road, with Collin showing their art and facilitating more workshops and talks with community members at various conferences and community non-profits. Postcards created by attendees of the first “Chicken” art show travelled along with Collin, and community members were invited to add their own works to the postcard series.

Affirmation Postcard Project: Folks continued to contribute postcards to “Chicken” through art shows and workshops throughout 2019, expanding Collin’s original series into so many more beautiful sentiments and works of art. In total, over 150 postcards were contributed to this project in about a year’s time. Collin brought them to their final stop in August 2019, decorating the walls of Camp Ten Trees’ dining hall, a queer youth summer camp in WA State, with affirming messages. The photos above show these postcards just before they were shown for the last time, many finding new homes with campers before they left.

A huge thank you to each person who contributed to this project!!