Artistic Free Speech Day in SF!

Calling SF Bay Area artists:

Celebrate Artistic Free Speech Day in SF on Friday, August 7, 2026, 1-4 pm, in SF’s Lafayette Park:

On that day, honor free speech for artists by remembering SF Mime Troupe Founder Ron Davis’ in the place where he was arrested, in Lafayette Park, on August 7, 1965 for performing without a permit from the San Francisco Recreation and Park department.

In 2015, the San Francisco, Board of Supervisors enacted a resolution that passed unanimously, designating August 7 annually as Artistic Free Speech day.*

Please bring your creative efforts to share with others whether it’s poetry, prose music, visual arts or dance. Speak the truth (with beauty) to power and support the struggle for democracy and social justice in this country. (There will be no amplified sound--acoustic sound, only.)

For more historical context: "San Francisco Mime Troupe Arrested Historical Essay”
(https://www.foundsf.org/San_Francisco_Mime_Troupe_Arrested)

*
FILE NO. 150897 RESOLUTION NO. 339-15 [Artistic Free Speech Day-August 7, 2015]
Resolution declaring August 7, 2015, as Artistic Free Speech Day in the City and
County of San Francisco.

WHEREAS, Freedom of speech is a core value in the United States of America; and
WHEREAS, Artistic expression is a form of free speech that has been pursued and
challenged, yet ultimately supported and admired in San Francisco for many years; and
WHEREAS, The following San Francisco artists and/or their representatives were
arrested or threatened with arrest for expressing themselves through their art; and
WHEREAS, Writer and publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti and City Lights Bookstore
manager Shig Murao, were arrested by the SFPD in 1957 for selling "HOWL" and other
poems by Allen Ginsberg; and
WHEREAS, Comedian Lenny Bruce, was arrested by the SFPD in 1961 for performing
a stand-up comedy act that expressed his social critique; and
WHEREAS, Vorpal Gallery owner Muldoon Elder, was arrested in 1964 by the SFPD
for displaying "Themes from the Kama Sutra" sculptures by Ron Boice; and
WHEREAS, Journalist and filmmaker Saul Landau, was threatened with arrest in 1964
by the Berkeley Police Department for attempting to screen Jean Genet's film "Chant
d'Amour;" and
WHEREAS, Actors Billy Dixon and Richard Bright, were arrested by the SFPD in 1966
for performing in Michael McClure's play "The Beard;" and
WHEREAS, R.G. Davis, founder/director of the San Francisco Mime Troupe, was
arrested by the SFPD on August 7, 1965, for attempting to perform Giordano Bruno's classic
comedy "II Candelaio" without a permit in Lafayette Park; and
WHEREAS, These past infringements upon the free speech rights of all of these San
Francisco artists should now be acknowledged and rejected in the light of the progress we
have made as a city and a society that fully respects artistic freedom of expression; and
WHEREAS, Artistic free speech by San Franciscans has a major and beneficial cultural
and economic impact on San Francisco, known around the world for our artists' creativity;
now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, Therefore, do we now declare that the annual date of the arrest of R. G.
Davis in San Francisco's Lafayette Park on August 7, shall be known, recognized and
celebrated each year as Artistic Free Speech Day; and, be it
FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Board of Supervisors declares August 7, 2015,
Artistic Free Speech Day in the City and County of San Francisco.