Our theme for June is PUNK. It was chosen by our Bologna chapter in Italy and illustrated by Cristina Portolano.

🎸 The description of this month’s theme is written in the style of lyrics to a punk rock song. So, feel free to belt them out. 🎤 And if you know a band that wants to put them to music, we’ll feature their cover of our punk rock anthem here on the CreativeMornings blog. 🎵

Does the system feel broken
Staring at our screens
Not hearing the screams

Wake up wake up wake up

We’re not meant to go it alone
Find your people lift them up
Do what you can with what you got

Wake up wake up wake up

Your creativity can save you
What you gonna make
What you gonna change

Wake up wake up wake up

🎸 PUNK stands for challenging the status quo, speaking your truth, and making noise when silence isn’t an option. It’s brutal honesty and the messy beauty of doing things your own way. 🧷

CREATIONS FROM OUR COMMUNITY:

Each month, we ask the readers of our Weekly Highlights newsletter to submit creative work inspired by our global theme.

Mohawk City by Paula D'Alessandris in New York, New York.

A photo taken by me of street art by TABBY depicting punk on cinderblock wall.

You can see more work on Paula’s instagram.

Stone Series #2 by Colleen O’Brien in Medicine Hat, Canada.

This is a painting, if you look closely you will see many layers, transparencies, unusual juxtapositions. If it was punk rock music it would have the same characteristics. It was inspired by a small slice of rock.

Cobwebs In My Head by Corrine Kay in Mount Holly, North Carolina.

Pen and ink, Because I never know what it will look like I wing it and hope for the best and don’t care if it isn’t understood, I just do what I want.

Bike Kill by Marne Meisel in New York, New York.

This photo is from an anarchist bike event I went to several years ago and resurfaced while cleaning up images on my computer. This image exemplifies DIY, punk, anything goes vibe captured in a moment from a wacky event I attended years ago.

You can see more work on Marne’s instagram.

Feminist’s Story by Alena Aichlmanova in Prague, Czech Republic.

This drawing shows a woman trying to release the eyes of another woman. To help her to see things and enforce her to make things happen. In a masculine, patriarchal world, this may seem as a hard-core punk. In a respectful world, this is called a support.

The Community Mailbox Experiment by Anna Sullivan in North Bend, Washington.

This is a public art installation that asks strangers to send me handwritten letters. Participants pull blank cards from a mailbox that sits on a busy sidewalk. Then they send their hopes, fears, longings, questions, and joys to me via snail mail. I’ve received nearly 100 letters in the past couple months. Each is an intimate glimpse of humanity; I feel such love toward individuals I’ve never seen and will (likely) never meet.

Why is this punk? In 2025, the act of deep, personal, offline connection with strangers is ever more rare (more rare still: the act of sending handwritten letters through the mail). These letters, so small and simple, offer tangible hope in a troubling time. They’re punk in a sunny way, countercultural because snail mail isn’t mainstream, it’s not convenient or efficient. This is also what makes letters stand out, and what makes them important. I’d love to invite the CM community to participate in this project by sending their own letters! Let’s resist the digital slipstream together!

You can check out the Community Mailbox Experiment site. And if you’re in Seattle, go see the exhibit at Happy Time Studio in Issaquah.

Slut by Julie Andrieux in Stockholm, Sweden.

This work is a poem, a portrait of slut. Usually used as a derogatory term, I believe that sluts question societal norms and specifically, gender norms. The slut rejects mainstream patriarchal values to find her own path and regain ownership over her body. Sluts are punk as hell!

Want to see your creative work featured on our blog? Subscribe to our Weekly Highlight newsletter to find out when submissions for next month’s theme are open.