Artists Against I.C.E.
How you can help Minnesota, free art downloads, and 15+ artists making statements through their work.
Life feels so heavy and dystopian right now. It’d be weird not to start with that acknowledgment.
If you’ve been feeling very disillusioned, uneasy, and hopeless since Trump took office, I’ve been in that headspace too. Working in the arts and in journalism, this administration’s funding cuts, censorship, and attack on the free press have hit me and others in these industries especially hard. We need art more than ever.
It feels endlessly defeating to witness this administration treat American lives as disposable every single day. Seeing the images of people who were kidnapped and sent to detention centers sends shivers down my spine. We shouldn’t have to watch another video of an ICE agent with no morals, spraying pepper spray and releasing bullets into someone who was exercising their right to protest or trying to help a neighbor.
What we’re experiencing is not normal; it is fascism. ICE is not keeping America safe; they’re tearing the country apart. History teaches us what happens when authoritarian regimes come into power with foundations built upon baseless, racist beliefs. Things will likely get worse. Trust me, I spent two years of college in deep research and writing about Holocaust history and museums. There is no world where I wouldn’t speak up about what is happening in our country, especially with the platform I have on Substack and my publication’s emphasis on uplifting marginalized voices.
During these horribly shitty times, I have found faith in how my Bay Area community and those across the country have shown up for each other. Seeing just how many people were documented at the Jan. 30 protests was incredible. We also need to lean into tools that support not only the community but ourselves through self-expression. I’m grateful for the artists sharing their ways of coping right now and creating powerful work that amplifies anti-ICE sentiment. Please keep making work that speaks to our collective rage.
Some action items for you to directly help Minnesota and your community:
Donate: Support Women’s Foundation of Minnesota Immigrant Rapid Response Fund, Support frontline organizers demanding justice in Minnesota, Support Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota
Vote with your dollar. Shop small/local if you can. Here’s a list of companies to avoid that have contracts with ICE from Labor Politics here on Substack.
Exercise your right to protest
Uplift small businesses in Minnesota. Locavore NYC made this lovely guide to small shops in MN, and many of these businesses have online shops.
If you see ICE, report it. Look for your county’s rapid response number. Here are some for California
Support local news organizations (donate, subscribe, read, or share stories) so they can continue to report on what’s going on in our country. Here are a few publications in Minnesota: MPRNews, MinnPost, Minnesota Reformer, Sahan Journal, Minnesota Star Tribune. Don Lemon and Georgia Fort were targeted by ICE for reporting on the truth. Journalists need your support, even if it is just readership or sharing feedback on how we’re reporting on ICE and immigration.
Below are works of art made by people (no AI!) that care:
Instagram: @paige.boy
Instagram: @patrick_martinez_studio
Instagram: @spellofmyself
Instagram: @nomorewhitewomen2
Instagram: @kwatrousceramics | Website: Kwastrous Ceramics
Instagram: @mollycrabapple | Substack: Molly Crabapple
Instagram: @emilyquandahl
Instagram: @kiyogutierrez
Instagram: @laurarbenson | Substack: Laura Benson
Instagram: @akaa.null | Buy this print: Now Place SF
Free Artist-made Poster Downloads for protesting, displaying| in your window, etc.
Free download links + art credit clockwise from top left: Ampersand, Manuela Guillén, Mark A. Romero, Phoebe Wahl
Art-adjacent Anti-ICE fundraisers + businesses to support in San Francisco:
Ceramicist and shop owner @mud.witch is hosting a craft + community night fundraiser at their store Emotion Potion with 100% of funds going to the Immigrant Defense Project. $25 tickets here.
The Booksmith, my bookstore of choice on Haight Street, is donating 15% of proceeds from sales of a rotating selection of mutual aid/abolitionist books to CHIRLA for the entire month of February.
@st444rgirl.tt, a SF-based tattoo artist, is offering free tattoos to anyone who donates $175 to orgs including the Immigrant Defense Project, MN Neighbors Helping Neighbors, and others.
Green Apple Books has free ICE whistles and free, bilingual ICE information pamphlets (how to report ICE, safety tips, etc.). On Jan. 30, they donated all profits to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota.
One of my favorite small businesses in SF, Earthen, has been vocal about ICE, participated in the nationwide shutdown, and unfortunately, was vandalized on Jan. 30. They make the cutest animal-inspired ceramics in-house and stock so many other small biz from around the world. You can shop online too.
This is not an exhaustive list. Feel free to use the comments to share more artists making anti-ICE art and other ways to support.
Great post. Thanks on behalf of everyone affected. We're so sad here in Europe to see what's happening to you guys.
Love your writing and this selection of artwork you highlight is so broad and beautiful.