Randall White
@randallwhite.bsky.social
Writer. Founder of Res Creativa. Exploring how artists strengthen democracy by practicing the habits that democracy requires. https://randallwhite.com
“Talented artists won’t be able to resist the temptation of drawing our would-be emperors in their glorious mental and moral nakedness. “But it’s a shame it is currently so hard to make a decent living in this important public service.” Political cartoons have power. Use them for good.
Newspaper space for political cartoons is shrinking – but we need these artists as much as ever
The cartooning industry is still struggling to adapt to the 21st century media business model.
theconversation.com
"Mr. Trump has the support of just 34 percent of Americans in CNN’s latest poll, matching his lowest point just after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol." www.nytimes.com/2026/08/01/u...
Trump’s Polling Numbers Hit a New Low. Don’t Expect Him to Change Course. (Gift Article)
Barely a third of Americans approve of Mr. Trump’s handling of the job, putting him at historic depths for a second-term president at this stage of his tenure.
nytimes.com
A working democracy isn't something we inherit. It's something we rehearse. Guess who already knows how to rehearse. open.substack.com/pub/randallw... #creativity #artists #democracy #rescreativa
Rehearsing Democracy
For artists who didn't know they were already practicing self-government.
open.substack.com
Artists create places that invite people to care for one another and the world they share. Those are democratic skills, too. ------------- Res Creativa rescreativa.org Creativity is its own republic. Check us out. #rescreativa #democracy #landscapearchitect #landscaping #spatialdesign
Curiosity, revision, tolerance for ambiguity. These aren't artistic traits. They're civic ones. Follow Res Creativa. rescreativa.org Creativity is its own republic.
Artists know that the spaces we share shape the lives we share. Those are democratic skills, too. ------------- Res Creativa rescreativa.org Creativity is its own republic. Check us out. #rescreativa #democracy #architect #architecture #spatialdesign
Artists know that every person has a story worth revealing. Those are democratic skills, too. ------------- Res Creativa rescreativa.org Creativity is its own republic. Check us out. #rescreativa #democracy #costume #costumer #costumedesign
“He is an artist first and then he is a conservative. We don’t have enough of those people on our side.” ~ Steve Bannon That’s because most artists carry qualities and skills that democracy needs. www.seattletimes.com/nation-world...
The artist and filmmaker helping Trump reshape D.C.
Matthew Taylor has a role in the Trump administration, as a senior adviser at the National Endowment for the Humanities, and had a hand in many GOP initiatives.
seattletimes.com
Artists of all disciplines: We don't ever want to wind up in this place again. Democracy needs us. Res Creativa rescreativa.org Creativity is its own republic. #creativity #artists #creativeintelligence #rescreativa
“If you don’t make a choice, somebody else will take your choice.” More of this, please. www.usatoday.com/story/opinio...
Don't worry about democracy. The preschoolers will save it. | Opinion
A renewal is happening right now, in America's preschools, and it's reason for real confidence in democracy's future.
usatoday.com
Like the inherited structure of any arts discipline, a nation's constitution is not a prison. It is a conversation across generations. Policymakers could learn from people who spend their lives practicing and demonstrating that limitations don’t restrict creativity. open.substack.com/pub/randallw...
Safemart is a low-key, high-security artist-run project space in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood. The latest exhibition, is the "perfect merger of a sometimes-space with someone who isn’t interested in playing into the conventions of exhibition making." www.kqed.org/arts/1399190...
Artists practice seeing the world through someone else's eyes without losing sight of their own. Those are democratic skills, too. ------------- Res Creativa rescreativa.org Creativity is its own republic. Check us out. #actor #actors #stage #film #television #newmedia #rescreativa #democracy
Artists honor community by carrying tradition forward. Those are democratic skills, too. ------------- Res Creativa rescreativa.org Creativity is its own republic. Check us out. #AmericanIndian #tribe #dance #democracy #rescreativa
The White House has "sought to leverage the budget as a tool to assist its allies — or as a cudgel to hurt the president’s foes." Well ... I am just shocked! SHOCKED, I say. 🙄 www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/b...
Trump Administration Admits Canceling Grants to States That Did Not Vote for Him (Gift Article)
Federal officials said in court documents that they halted billions of dollars in funding for energy projects to states “based solely” on whether they backed President Trump in the 2024 election.
nytimes.com
What they want you to believe: Wildfires = Canada mismanagement. What the data says: 335 million hectares burned globally in 2025. 3,955 fires in Canada in 2026 alone, 1,092,095 hectares in non-EU Europe, Spain, France, USA, South Africa, Australia. This is climate, not a country.
1977. San Francisco. A prolific group of disabled activists walks and rolls into the federal building, refusing to leave until the first major piece of legislation for disability rights is enforced. They stayed in that building for 25 days. #disability #denver #PhamalyTheatreCompany
He doesn't just want to be king, he wants to be a deity.
This is how you do it, theatre community. Women+ on the Edge of Democracy is a national theater initiative featuring short 10-minute plays by 36 prominent women+ playwrights including Lynn Nottage, Sarah Ruhl, and Heidi Schreck.
Women+ on the Edge of Democracy | Stage readings and performances between October 23 and November 3
Women+ on the Edge of Democracy brings together 36 acclaimed women+ playwrights to create 10-minute plays that respond to shared questions about the state of democracy in America. These newly commissi...
democracy.flynnvt.org
Artists understand that every body tells a story worth seeing. Those are democratic skills, too. ------------- Res Creativa rescreativa.org Creativity is its own republic. Check us out. #dancer #dancers #dance #democracy #rescreativa
Res Creativa is for artists of all disciplines who care about democracy. rescreativa.org #rescreativa #artists #democracy #imagination
“We are in a big struggle to be upholding the ideals, as imperfect as they were, that were laid out when we became a country, which is sort of, no tyrants, no kings. What does that mean? And we’re still in that struggle now.” Theatre has power. Use it for good. #theatre #musicaltheatre
‘Les Misérables’ in Concert and More: A Show’s Never-Ending Life (Gift Article)
Concert versions and touring productions keep the spirit of 19th-century French revolutionaries alive.
nytimes.com
More of this, please. In the USA specifically. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/t...
As Budget Cuts Loom, French Theater Turns Up the Political Heat (Gift Article)
This year’s Avignon Festival has transformed into a staging ground for protests, defiant new works and some early 2027 presidential campaigning.
nytimes.com
Artists learn to notice what others pass by. Those are democratic skills, too. ------------- Res Creativa rescreativa.org Creativity is its own republic. Check us out. #artist #visualartist #painter #democracy #rescreativa
Artists know that where we stand shapes what we see. Those are democratic skills, too. ------------- Res Creativa rescreativa.org Creativity is its own republic. Check us out. #photography #photographer #democracy #rescreativa #POV
"Contralto" is one of two impressive Art Deco sculptures located in Dallas' Fair Park. Originally created in 1926 by Lawrence Tenney Steavens, David Newton was commissioned to replicate and replace them. The new "Contralto" and her companion "Tenor" were unveiled in 2009. www.fairparkdallas.com
