Eugene artist documents federal building protest by painting it, in real time

Cassie Taylor is used to painting musicians while they play, committing to canvas the mood of a jazz band grooving in the middle of a set.

Last week, her live painting was focused on a new group: the protesters gathered for hours at the Eugene Federal Building Friday, Jan. 30, before federal officers used tear gas to disperse them.  

Taylor is a 23-year-old painter born and raised in Eugene. She frequently paints musicians as they play, at Tsunami Books or Dark Pine Coffee.

Last Friday, she focused on capturing the protesters’ energy as they held signs and interacted with passing cars, and she said painting the demonstration wasn’t dissimilar to her live-music art experiences.

“There’s still so much energy in the air, but it’s a different kind of energy,” she said. “There’s a similarity between musicians riffing off of each other, and a whole bunch of people all standing here for the same reason.”

Art amid protest has gained new relevance with protests against federal immigration enforcement, particularly in Minneapolis. Communal “rage knitting” has given hobby knitters a political outlet, and prominent artist Isabelle Brourman has pivoted from courtroom scenes to live protest painting. One video shows her blocking munitions with her drawing board. 

Taylor initially hadn’t planned to paint live as protests in Eugene grew in intensity last week, but she had seen knitting protesters on scene at the federal building. If they could show up and be a part of the demonstration with their artistic skills, she thought, so could she.

Attending a vigil in honor of Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti earlier in the week, and reading about the use of tear gas on “Eugene people” in the hours after the vigil, galvanized her decision to live paint at the protest. 

But it was the example of the knitters, peacefully using their creativity in a tense time, which spoke to her.

“People underestimate the fact that they’re just there to make art,” Taylor said. “That’s a very profound thing to do now, because a lot of value comes from the finished piece. But the actual performance of it is a little contagious, and it causes people to think outside of the box.”

With the work itself, which does not have a formal title, she wanted to give a sense of place for the protests at the federal building. She was stationed at one corner of the block and painted the interactions between the protesters and the cars passing by. 

Taylor said she sees protest painting as historical documentation, like photojournalism, but more about being present in the mood and feeling of a space.

“It’s a bit more conversational,” she said. 

She left the Friday protest hours before Eugene police declared a riot and federal officers used tear gas on the crowd. When whispers of approaching federal officers spread in the protest, Taylor took down her setup as the scene turned more chaotic. (She plans on pivoting to a more portable setup for future works.)

The protest experience has also got her thinking about more documentation-style work she could do; her first idea was what she called the “weird dichotomy” between people working downtown and the homeless people living there, with disparate scenes happening on the same streets.

Taylor said she’s expecting to do more live painting from the federal building in the coming weeks, compiling a visual journal of Eugene’s opposition to immigration enforcement. 

“It’s our city, and it’s our world,” she said. “It’s hard not to capture it in some way.”

Taylor’s painting of the protest is currently on display at Portal Tea, 41 W. Broadway, in downtown Eugene.