✍️ End Harassment, Intimidation, and Unjustified Exclusion of Artists in Our Public Spaces

To: The City of Seattle, Friends of Waterfront Seattle, Seattle Center Administration, and All Relevant City and Private Entities

 
📍 What’s Happening
Seattle’s new Waterfront Park was built to be an open, inclusive, and vibrant public space—a destination for community, joy, and creativity. But today, beloved street performers—musicians, magicians, circus artists, dancers, and more—are being harassed, displaced, and even banned.

Despite peacefully entertaining the public for years, performers now face:

• Verbal harassment and intimidation by security and city staff
• Threats of arrest, detainment, or legal action
• Unjustified trespass orders from public areas

These actions violate First Amendment rights and dismantle the very spirit of public space. Our public parks and sidewalks are not corporate courtyards. They belong to all of us.

 
🎨 Why It Matters
Street performers make Seattle special.

They:

• Provide free, diverse entertainment to locals and tourists
• Create safe, welcoming spaces through art and human connection
• Drive foot traffic and vibrancy that benefit small businesses
• Represent a living tradition of free public expression

Cracking down on performers doesn’t just violate individual rights—it drains our public spaces of life, culture, and soul.

 
⚖️ What We’re Demanding
We call on the City of Seattle, and Friends of Waterfront Seattle to:

1. Stop Harassment and Unlawful Exclusion
2. Immediately end intimidation, assault, unjustified trespass orders, and displacement of lawful performers in public space.
3. Affirm Artists’ Rights in Public Forums
4. Recognize that sidewalks, plazas, and open spaces—not just “performance zones”—are protected public forums under the First Amendment. 🛑 Free speech should not be boxed into permission-only zones. Public space is for everyone.
5. Create Fair, Transparent Guidelines
6. Work directly with performers and advocacy groups to establish clear, lawful, and inclusive guidelines—not restrictive policies that stifle expression.
7. Ensure Accountability and Training
8. Hold security and staff accountable for violations.
9. Train all Waterfront personnel on free speech rights, conflict de-escalation, and cultural sensitivity.
10. Celebrate, Don’t Criminalize, Street Art: Actively support a welcoming environment where street performance is seen as a civic asset—not a threat.