This is the view most of us see: US voting by land mass.

This is how America votes by population.

Journalist Vince Chandler, creator of These American Crossroads, on connecting isolated “blue dots,” resisting authoritarianism, and building hope across the heartland.

To understand the true demographics of voters, we need to look at maps not by land—since land doesn’t vote—but by population. Connecting those blue dots is central to Vince’s work.

An interview with journalist Vince Chandler on These American Crossroads

Yellow Scene: Vince, you were just on your podcast, Find The Helpers, talking about the people you’re meeting in the Heartland. They all tell you they’re a “blue dot,” and you’re realizing those blue dots are actually connected. When you look at a map of the United States by voting population instead of land mass, it completely changes the picture. These people tell you they’re not meeting each other — they’re isolated in Wichita, or in other towns. Let’s talk about that.

Vince Chandler: It’s easy to feel isolated, especially in a world siloed into media bubbles. What we see on our local feeds can feel like the whole truth, while coastal media outlets cut staff and can’t afford reporters on the ground anymore.

That leaves blue dots across the heartland with only weeklies and small papers — themselves gutted — often running press releases as full stories. And activists often don’t know how to write or share their impact. Storytelling is a gift — it takes skill to connect abstract ideas in ways people understand.

By being out there on the road, telling stories in people’s own language, drawing lines between neighbors a couple hours apart, you shrink the world and push back against isolation. The Trump administration and its propaganda regime need people to feel alone. They’re not censoring dissent because it’s dangerous — they’re censoring hope, because hope connects people.

If we platform stories of hope, and what activists, advocates, and lawmakers are doing to fight fascism, it reminds us we’re not alone. The largest voting bloc in 2024 was non-participants, many disengaged from apathy. Gen Z voters weren’t drawn to MAGA policy but to the promise of radical change. Biden’s return to the status quo felt inadequate.

Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at the Fighting Oligarchy Tour, March 2025. Photo by Vince Chandler

Trump tapped into the same populist momentum Bernie Sanders had in 2016 — promising something radical and new. Remember, Bernie swept every county in West Virginia in 2016 by calling for revolutionary change.

Fascism thrives where there’s no hope. By rekindling the narrative that we, the people, have power — and that there are more of us — we can drive real populism against fascism. In my best scenario, it’s socialist, but at the very least it’s anti-fascist. That’s what These American Crossroads is becoming: an organ for people who feel alone.

Almost 500 Kansans gather on the south steps of their State House for a group photo in solidarity with the 50501 nationwide Rage Against the Regime protest organized in all fifty states on August 2, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine).

No one person can change the world. It takes millions of interconnected actions — protests, organizing, mutual aid, a Texan buying school supplies, or a Kansan making zines and buttons. She thinks it’s insufficient, but those buttons connect people like team colors. Media ignores those details, but they matter.

Drawing these lines is exhausting — I come back from the road and sleep for days. But people focused on survival don’t have that energy. That’s where storytellers come in: showing that neighbors are acting too, not just Congress. Nobody can do everything, but we can kindle a fire together.

Yellow Scene: Two questions: no act of resistance is too small, and many people feel overwhelmed and afraid. Not everyone can protest or make buttons. What other forms of resistance have you seen or would recommend?

With concerns of outgrowing their space, each service is now averaging an attendance of 50 congregants in the small coffee shop space, the spiritual leadership at The Urban Abbey is adding more service options and discussing expanding in to a larger space in tandem with the Abbey’s bookstore outreach. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene).

Vince Chandler: In These American Crossroads, we wrote about a church in Nebraska that makes advocacy part of its weekly service, with an expert outlining federal, state, and local issues and how to fight them.

Resistance can be lobbying lawmakers, donating, cooking for strikers, or coordinating rides to the polls.

GoFarm connects local farmers directly with customers — no middleman, no grocery store. Farmers get paid, crops don’t rot, and people eat food grown in their own county.

Retired Iowa Supreme Court Justice Brent Appel works on his computer in his office in the faculty bay at Drake University’s Law School, researching the connections and threads impacting Black Iowans through their legal system, from the writing of the state constitution to how it contrasts with contemporary federal law on July 10, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

At Drake University in Iowa, a law professor created a course on systemic racism in the state constitution, after public schools were banned from teaching Black history through a Black lens. He’s teaching kids who otherwise wouldn’t get that history.

Even sharing information is resistance. Many are afraid to hit “share” online for fear of backlash. But others in their feed are waiting to see that. Creating more than you consume is important. For every post that drags you down, make one that speaks honestly about how you feel. That honesty is resistance.

Supporting local arts is also resistance. Instead of $15 to Disney, invest in a local comedy troupe or theater. Colorado is home to Phamaly Theatre Company, the nation’s oldest accessible theater company, producing shows led by disabled artists and performers. Support them.

Yellow Scene: So even at the neighborhood level — say in Erie — people could host Black history courses?

David Hogg, recently ousted as Vice Chair for the Democratic National Committee, speaks from stage at Pitt State University during an event hosted by the Kansas Young Democrats on Saturday, August 16, 2025. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Vince Chandler: Exactly. Host potlucks, invite neighbors, create phone-free spaces, and talk about what people are doing. Building community and refusing isolation is a radical act of resistance. Even everyday conversations — like tariffs driving up the price of Sour Patch Kids — show how federal policy shapes daily life.

Movements don’t spring up fully formed. The Black Panthers’ free breakfast program began when Fred Hampton heard about a hungry child and asked the women in his community how to help. They started feeding kids. It wasn’t seen as revolutionary at the time, but became revolutionary in hindsight.

Independent media can tell these stories from the ground up, not from ivory towers. We report with communities, not at them.

Yellow Scene: Final question: Can we win?

Vince Chandler: Absolutely. Fascism has never truly won. It rises, but it can’t sustain. This moment may be our generation’s burden, but we will win.

Yellow Scene: So it’s worth the fight?

Shelby Hermosillo, of Salina, Kansas, speaks following Congresswoman Rashida Talib during a Popular Democracy press conference before staging an act of nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol. “I had this weight over me, knowing that I was leaving my family back home, losing money because I’m here to do this, but it matters more than making sure we had a check at the end of the week,” Hermosillo said. (Photo by Vince Chandler / Yellow Scene Magazine)

Vince Chandler: Absolutely. Every generation has its rights movements. This is ours. You don’t want to be on the sidelines when your grandchildren ask, “What did you do?”

Yellow Scene: Yellow Scene was attacked by local Trump supporters in Erie for covering Charlie Kirk. I wrote that America faces a moral dilemma — not about Rs and Ds, but about each of us: Who will we be in this moment?

Vince Chandler: People need to accept discomfort, especially those in privileged groups. Some of us could disappear into comfort — but only at the expense of others. Fascism allows that. We have to refuse it.

Yellow Scene: I’ve seen friends say, “Why do we have to have sides?” But we do — this administration is dismantling democracy.

Vince Chandler: Exactly. It looks like halves, but it’s really thirds: a third support fascism, a third oppose it, and a third just want to live their lives. The real choice is whether we side with the many or the few who exploit. Billionaires are our feudal lords now. The true divide is capital versus anti-capital.

Yellow Scene: Coming back to the attacks on Yellow Scene — they’re not just boycotting us, they’re targeting the small businesses that advertise with us. That’s despicable.

Vince Chandler: I see the difference between that and boycotting businesses that take political stances themselves. This is an attack on your platform for publishing anti-fascist journalism. And all journalism should be anti-fascist.

Anti-Fascist = Pro-Democracy explanation: There’s no shadowy “Antifa organization.” Anti-fascism is simply the belief that democracy should not be dismantled by authoritarianism. In today’s climate, calling journalism “anti-fascist” is another way of saying it’s pro-democracy: it protects free speech, it holds power accountable, and it ensures communities have the information they need to stand together.

Vince Chandler (continued): I welcome the challenge. They’re a tiny minority doing something foolish. They’re asking businesses, “Do you support anti-fascist journalism?” Most Coloradans do. Now is the time for businesses to stand proudly with pro-democracy media like Yellow Scene.

Yellow Scene: Exactly. They’re not making boycott lists, they’re making lists of people to support.

Vince Chandler: Businesses should recognize that. Their act of resistance is to keep advertising and double down. Local businesses have power, and historically, people’s movements succeed when businesses support them — with food, space, or resources. That solidarity sustains movements.

Find all of Vince’s stories of resistance and persistence on yellowscene.com

Find The Helpers Podcast on YouTube/YellowSceneMagazine

Catch Jeff Fard’s interview with Shavonne Blades and Vince Chandler

Lastly, Yellow Scene remains one of the few truly independent publications—free from paywalls, political boards, and still upholding the Great Wall between our advertising and editorial departments. Projects like These American Crossroads exist only through reader support, as there simply isn’t enough local advertising to fund all of our work. While we’re covering a small per diem to help Vince with meals and gas, it’s not enough to keep him on the road. (He’s even spent nights sleeping in his car on this trip.) If you value independent reporting, please consider donating so Vince can continue connecting the blue dots and documenting this critical moment for American democracy.

Best known for capturing striking content from the frontlines of social movements, Heartland EMMY-nominated filmmaker and photographer Vince Chandler has spent 20 years creating art and documentary visuals across the U.S. They served as Communications Director for Denver City Councilwoman Shontel Lewis, and Vince has earned national recognition for their work as a visual journalist for The Denver Post. Vince was the principal cinematographer for the feature documentary film Running With My Girls, which premiered at the 2021 Denver Film Festival.

______________________________

What does resistance & resilience look like in the Heartland of America?

Sometimes it’s a protest outside an ICE detention center. Sometimes it’s a rural nurse explaining how Medicaid cuts will shutter the town hospital. Sometimes, it’s a law professor teaching systemic racism at a University in a state where CRT is banned in public schools.

As Trump’s second term unfolds — and the One Big Beautiful Act guts healthcare, empowers ICE, and reshapes American life — independent journalism is more vital than ever. However, the national press rarely shows up in the places where policy has the most impact.

We do.

These American Crossroads is a collaboration between Vince Chandler, Emmy-nominated visual journalist, and Yellow Scene Magazine, Boulder County’s only independent newsroom.

Become a sustaining supporter for just $8/month: https://fundrazr.com/Crossroads

The post “But What Can I Do?” Vince Chandler on Resistance, Community, and Hope Across the Heartland appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Contact

Luna Rose Wolf
Executive Director
luna.wolf@yeetmail.net

Boulder, CO – Get ready to rock! Lunar Lux Music and Arts Festival announces Warped Wolf ’25, a three-day celebration of music, food, and inclusivity in the heart of Longmont, Colorado. This multi-genre event will bring together local and national acts for an unforgettable experience that showcases the power of community, culture, and collaboration – following its record shattering Colorado inauguration last April at Dv8 Distillery, which has since closed its doors to focus on its flagship product Sparkle.

Dates: June 20th-22nd
Location: Großen Bart Brewery, Longmont, CO
Tickets: $20/Day (Recommended Donation)
Headliners: Rooted Rhythm (CO), Edge Of Destiny (TX), Off The Rails (FL)
Website: WarpedWolf.org

Experience the Music, Embrace the Community

Warped Wolf ’25 is more than just a music festival. It’s a place to celebrate diversity, acceptance, and the transformative power of art. With over 25 bands representing a wide array of genres, there’s something for everyone. Enjoy delicious eats from local food trucks and tents, browse unique crafts from a dozen or more retail vendors each day, and connect with impactful local organizations which have previously included Punk Rock Saves Lives, Bee The Vibe, Keep The Party Safe, NoCoSafeSpace, and more!

Inclusivity at the Heart

Lunar Lux Music and Arts Festival, a Colorado non-profit, is committed to the creation of a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC communities. The woman and LGBTQIA+ owned and operated festival is a shining example of the power of inclusion and the beauty of a diversified and supportive community, and has benefitted marginalized communities in many ways since its 2023 inception.

Special Thanks

The festival extends a heartfelt thank you to Lodo Drum Guy for providing and maintaining a drum set for artists to use, Großen Bart Brewery for offering their space for the event, Yellow Scene Magazine for promotional assistance, and all of our fans for helping spread the word!

This will likely be the only year the fest is free to attend!

While no cover is necessary, a donation of $20 or more each day is recommended.

For more information and the latest band schedule, please visit WarpedWolf.org or follow the official Instagram page at @warpedwolffest.

About Lunar Lux® Music & Arts Festival

Lunar Lux® Music and Arts Festival was founded on December 29th of 2023, with the intention of bringing communities together via the power of music and art. LGBTQIA+, BIPOC, and female identifying individuals are embarrassingly underrepresented and disrespected in the music industry, and the organization intends to change not only that, but the lives of those in marginalized communities and their families. When festivals occur, artists NEVER pay to play, are not required to make ticket sales, and are guaranteed to be able to keep 100% of merchandise sales.

Lunar Lux® Music and Arts Festival originally began in the small Florida town of Vero Beach in March of 2023 when a bar owner asked founder Luna Rose Wolf if she booked bands. Having grown a huge interest in doing so while working as a professional concert photographer, she said “No, but I will.”

Later that week, she contacted the owner of local pool hall Pockets Billiards & Bites to see if they would like to host a couple of bands, and owner Gary McKinnond was honored to give LunaFest ’23 a place to call home. Florida bands ¡Fuákata!, Paging Mr Herman, and Off The Rails were all aboard. (See what I did there?)

Within days, more bands were interested in joining the lineup, and the event grew into a three day festival with forty bands. It didn’t stop there. Finishing as a 4 day festival with food trucks, vendors, and over 60 different bands, LunaFest ’23 literally made history by breaking local records for the most bands to attend an event.

News travelled rapidly, and those who didn’t hear of the event or weren’t able to attend expressed their disappointment of missing out when hearing the stories from festival attendees. This led to the creation of LunaFest ’24, which was originally set to take place in March but was cancelled due to major changes in Luna’s life including moving out of state to Colorado due to the transphobic nature of Florida causing the loss of her medications, her job, and nearly her life.

Many still begged her to bring back the festival, and once she settled down in Colorado she did exactly that. Taking place from April 22nd until the early morning hours of April 29th, LunaFest came back, and made Boulder history with bands from several states, including performers from LunaFest ’23 as well as international acts.

Starting this year, LunaFest will be under the name Warped Wolf to prevent confusion with the popular film festival that used the previous name, and the new name hints at the involvement of craft beer at future events, another of Luna’s passions.

The post Lunar Lux Music and Arts Festival Announces Warped Wolf ‘25 appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press releases are provided to Yellow Scene Magazine. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

BOULDER, Colo. – The Office of Arts and Culture is offering free walking tours of downtown Boulder’s public art starting Saturday, June 22. Each tour will last 1.5 hours and feature approximately 30 stops highlighting an array of sculptures, murals and urban design projects. Participants will begin the tour at the corner of 17th and Pearl Street and end at 13th Street and Arapahoe. Along the way, discover artwork installed as early as 1977 and as recently as 2024.

Guided tours will be offered most Saturdays at 11 a.m. beginning June 22 and most Wednesdays at 5:30 p.m. beginning June 26. Tours run through Saturday, August 31. Visit the program website to view all available tour dates.

“We are excited to highlight pieces of our city’s public art collection with the community,” said Arts and Culture Manager Lauren Click. “These unique works of art, from iconic bronze sculptures to colorful murals in alleys, help tell our city’s story. And they are your art collection: always free to enjoy, inspired by Boulder’s community and natural surroundings. We look forward to sharing more about these works with community members during guided tours.” 

Bring your walking shoes and water bottles and join us in exploring Boulder’s rich public art scene! Please dress for the weather. The tour route will be accessible via paved sidewalks. Registration is required.

The city’s Community Vitality Department reserves the right to cancel tours that do not meet the minimum size of two people or due to inclement weather. Those who have registered will be notified of any changes to scheduled tours. Learn more about public art tours and register by visiting the program webpage. Find more information about the Public Art Program and open calls for artists on the city’s website.

The post City of Boulder launches pilot downtown public art walking tours this summer appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

City and County of Denver
Denver Arts & Venues
Amber Fochi
Marketing & Communications
720-865-4228
amber.fochi@denvergov.org

Denver Arts & Venues requests proposals for a monument audit for art pieces in and around Civic Center Park.

Funding for this project comes from The Monuments Project, a multi-year $500 million commitment from the Mellon Foundation aimed at transforming the nation’s commemorative landscape to ensure that our histories are completely and accurately represented. In May of 2023, Denver Arts & Venues and the Department of Parks and Recreation combined efforts and were awarded a joint grant from the Mellon Foundation’s Monuments Project to further the City and County of Denver’s investigations of monuments and commemorative spaces in Denver’s Civic Center Park.

The purpose of this audit is to plan and facilitate a historical audit of approximately 21 existing artworks and monuments in Civic Center Park and the surrounding area and uncover any incomplete information in city records. The audit should include biographies of the artists, models and critical parties involved in the creation of the works, demographic information of those individuals, names of benefactors and donors and their connection to Denver’s communities and social groups, the social, cultural and historical impacts of the artworks and monuments, and gaps in the stories and narratives represented by or missing from the monuments, along with other data such as timelines, materials and provenance.

“Some of the monuments in Civic Center Park are more than a century old and reflect ideals and narratives that we must reconsider,” explained Tariana Navas-Nieves, deputy director for Denver Arts & Venues. “This grant will allow us to thoughtfully proceed with research, community input, contextualization, dialogue and education, so we can expand the narratives of history, reveal accounts that have not been brought to light nor shared, and determine the best path forward not only for these artworks, but also for the future of commemorations.”

Proposals will be accepted through BidNet, the Rocky Mountain E-purchasing System, through which the City and County of Denver accepts formal bids for commissions and contracts. Proposals should be submitted by April 30, 10 a.m. The budget for the monument audit project is $175,000.

Denver Arts & Venues will host a pre-proposal meeting on April 10, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Interested parties should register for this virtual meeting on Eventbrite. The meeting will cover project backgrounds and goals, and the application process for this RFP.

Applicants should be high-level, competent consultants with experience in historical research, knowledge of civic monuments, experience in researching historically underrepresented communities, and project management skills. Not only will this project involve academic research, but also analysis, videography and photography, collaborative meetings, reporting and interviews. The project budget should cover all expenses including translation and interpretation, and subcontracting with any videographers or photographers, historians, archivists, copy writers, graphic designers and others as needed.

For more information on this and other opportunities to work with Denver Arts & Venues, please visit www.artsandvenuesdenver.com/about/work-with-us.

About Denver Arts & Venues

Denver Arts & Venues’ mission is to enrich Denver’s quality of life and economic vitality through the advancement of arts, culture and entertainment opportunities for all. Denver Arts & Venues operates Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Denver Performing Arts Complex, Colorado Convention Center, Denver Coliseum and McNichols Civic Center Building, using proceeds from events at these venues – not government funding – to run and maintain these facilities and to provide access to art for all through free and low-cost community events, grants for artists and arts organizations, public art and art education. Using Good Times, For Good.
www.ArtsandVenues.com

About Mellon Foundation Monuments Project

The Monuments Project is an unprecedented multi-year commitment by the Mellon Foundation that is aimed at transforming the nation’s commemorative landscape to ensure our collective histories are more completely and accurately represented. Launched in 2020 as a $250 million initiative—and doubled in 2023 to $500 million—the Monuments Project supports efforts to express, elevate, and preserve the stories of those who have often been denied historical recognition, and explores how we might foster a more complete telling of who we are as a nation. The Foundation’s commitment to the Monuments Project reflects both the urgency and the gravity of fostering more complete and inclusive storytelling of who we are as Americans.

www.mellon.org/article/the-monuments-project-initiative

The post Denver Arts & Venues Requests Proposals for Civic Center Park Monument Audit appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

Boulder Ballet’s 41st season, entitled Amplify, will highlight art, wellness and connection. Under the direction of Ben Needham-Wood, four mainstage productions will use dance to explore the eight dimensions of wellness (physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual, social, environmental, financial, and vocational) and highlight the benefits of dance for both performers and audience members.

This season is inspired by the growing interest in mental health in American culture, with a focus on changing outdated standards within the dance industry and the use of movement as a healing modality. The season opens September 23 at Chautauqua Auditorium with CONNECTION, a program of four works exploring the social and environmental dimensions of wellness. These dances demonstrate the lightness and darkness within humans and their effect on relationships. The performance features Caili Quan’s To Become Like This, Amy Seiwert’s The Devil Ties My Tongue, and world premieres from Wonderbound’s Sarah Tallman and Boulder Ballet’s Artistic Director Ben Needham-Wood. Additionally, Boulder Ballet’s season includes The Nutcracker with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, MINDFIELD in March which is inspired by ground-breaking research on the physical body’s capacity to impact our mental health, a May program that includes Les Slyphides and three classical pas de deux by Michael Smuin, Val Caniparoli, and Christopher Wheeldon, and outdoor programs in Boulder and Highlands Ranch featuring excerpts from the season.

ABOUT BOULDER BALLET:
Boulder Ballet is a classical, contemporary, and uniquely theatrical ballet company entertaining Boulder audiences for over 40 years. Devoted to cutting-edge performance, high-caliber training, inclusivity and community outreach, Boulder Ballet is Boulder County’s foremost professional dance company and ballet school. Boulder Ballet is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

WEBSITE: www.BoulderBallet.org
SEASON PERFORMANCES: https://www.boulderballet.org/season-2324
September 23, 2023: CONNECTION, Chautauqua Auditorium
November 24–26, 2023: THE NUTCRACKER, Macky Auditorium
March 8–10, 2024: MINDFIELD, Dairy ARTS Center
May 17–19, 2024: LES SYLPHIDES, Dairy ARTS Center
June 7–9, 2024: BALLET IN THE PARK, Boulder Bandshell and Civic Green Park, Highlands
Ranch

The post Boulder Ballet’s 41st Season, Amplify, Supports a Movement to Improve Mental Health in the Dance Community appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.