🎥 Watch the video of our Bamboodu Theater puppet show.

Make political art

By Fabrice Florin, Green Change

I am always amazed by the creativity of the signs that people bring to our rallies. By using art and humor, our signs express what many of us are feeling and can inspire people to action more effectively than speeches or campaign promotions. You don’t have to be an artist or media professional to get creative and have fun with it.

Over the years, I have led the creation of several large political art performances, to engage people at an emotional level, combining big art, theater and music. 

My first creation was a popular puppet show called the Bamboodu Theater, which I presented with MVCAN at the Mill Valley Memorial Day Parade in 2017 (see video above). This street theater play starred Lady Liberty and Tiny Trump: throughout the show, a little Trump puppet tweeted non-stop fake news on an electronic ticker tape, as our animatronic Liberty puppet kept bonking his bobblehead, much to the amusement of our spectators. This political art performance was covered by ABC News, reaching a wide audience on broadcast TV, as shown in this video.

Our next production was the award-winning Art Float for Social Change, created with Geo Monley and over a hundred volunteers at Tam Makers in 2018. This unique 20-foot parade float featured a spinning earth surrounded by a circle of hands, with a carousel of children’s art pulled by a colorful dragon. Live performers on our podium invited you to sing along, “be the change,” – and vote in the next election. This traveling art show inspired over ten thousand spectators at large parades in Mill Valley, Corte Madera and Fairfax that year.    

More recently, our “Stop Trump” float was a big hit at the No Kings Rally at Tam Junction in 2025! We propped up a crazed Trump puppet on top of my e-bike, pulling a giant Earth globe behind him, on a mad rampage to destroy our world. We scolded our would-be dictator, made faces at him and plastered “Stop Trump” signs all over him, as shown in this video. People posed for selfies, danced and sang the “No Kings in the USA” anthem with us. In just a few hours, hundreds of cars drove through the Hwy 101 off-ramp, on their way to the beach. They loved our display and honked continuously, with big smiles and thumbs up. 

I’m grateful to all the artists and musicians who have helped create these art floats over the years, especially our friends at MVCAN, Pataphysical Studios, Tam Makers, the Freedom Singers and the Shady Ladies. Together, we have inspired tens of thousands of people to take political action in a joyful way. 

The transformative power of the arts can energize our resistance, by inspiring hope and solidarity, even in the darkest times. I hope to bring more art performances to our rallies in years to come.

Whatever your creative talents are, I encourage you to make your own political art, to inspire your community to take back our country.

Video and photos by Fabrice Florin.