Thousands of businesses and organisations across the United States will close on Friday 30 January as part of a nationwide shutdown to protest the violent actions of federal immigration enforcement agents in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Chicago and other cities.
Hundreds of commercial dealers will take part, from blue-chip galleries like Pace, Paula Cooper Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, David Zwirner, Sean Kelly, Regen Projects, Lévy Gorvy Dayan and White Cube, to smaller spaces like Dimin, Jane Lombard Gallery, Broadway and Palo Gallery in New York, Nazarian/Curcio, Diane Rosenstein Gallery and Make Room in Los Angeles, Baker—Hall in Miami and Martha’s in Austin, Texas. Many non-profit spaces have also joined the nationwide shutdown, from Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, the Armory Center for the Arts and the 18th Street Art Center in Southern California to the Cue Art Foundation in New York Kaleidoscope Art Collective in Arkansas, New River Art & Fiber in Virginia, the Nightjar Arts Collective in Missouri and River & Word Arts Collective in Oklahoma.
“Right now, it feels especially important for galleries, museums and cultural organisations to show up together and be visible about where they stand,” Lisa Carlson, a senior director at Jane Lombard Gallery, said in a statement. “The art world is built on diversity, inclusivity and the contributions of immigrant artists, workers and audiences. Coming together in this way reflects our belief that cultural spaces don’t just mirror the world around us, but they can also help shape it with care, solidarity and responsibility.”
The nationwide action comes one week after arts organisations in Minneapolis and St Paul shut down as part of a citywide protest following the killings of Renée Good and Alex Pretti by agents involved in US Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) operations.
In an announcement about its closure, the renowned Los Angeles gallery Regen Projects stated that it would “honour the national day of action in support of the people of Minneapolis and the families of Renée Macklin Good, Alex Pretti, Keith Porter Jr and all victims of violence perpetrated by Ice in Los Angeles and nationwide”. Porter was fatally shot outside his apartment building on 31 December by an off-duty Ice officer.
“We stand in solidarity with our immigrant community in Los Angeles and nationwide,” an Instagram post by Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions reads. “Every day Ice is terrorising, assaulting and kidnapping our neighbours under the administration’s racist agenda. This Friday, we are asking our community to join the strike: No work. No school. No shopping.”
Other commercial galleries in New York taking part in the national shutdown include Cristin Tierney, Canada, Jacqueline Sullivan Gallery, Alexander Gray Associates, Alisan Fine Arts, Andrew Kreps, Anonymous Gallery, Bortolami, Casey Kaplan, Charles Moffett, Chart, Galerie Lelong, Gladstone, Michael Rosenfeld Gallery, Greene Naftali, Hales, Marianne Boesky Gallery, Hannah Traore, Hesse Flatow, James Cohan, Jane Lombard, Karma, Kravets Wehby, Kurimanzutto, Lisson, Luhring Augustine, Magenta Plains, Mendes Wood DM, Michael Werner, Peter Blum Gallery, PPOW, Salon 94, Sikkema Malloy Jenkins, Tina Kim Gallery, The Empty Circle, Uffner & Liu and Ulterior Gallery. Many galleries with spaces in multiple US cities will also participate, including David Kordansky, Gray, Hostler Burrows, Marian Goodman and Hoffman Donahue.
“Joining the nationwide shutdown against Ice felt like an obvious decision given the legacy of the gallery’s program and the importance of showing solidarity with our artists, staff members and those in the broader PPOW community,” Wendy Olsoff, a co-founder and principal at PPOW, said in a statement provided to The Art Newspaper. “As we did in 2010, in protest of the censorship of David Wojnarowicz’s artwork at the Smithsonian, and again in 2017 with the Women’s March after Trump’s first election, PPOW is providing space and materials to staff and artists to create posters and protest art prior to the march at Foley Square. In the past, these gatherings have been a great way to come together in the spirit of creativity, community, and freedom in times of hate, bigotry and violence.”
The nationwide shutdown and protests comes as Democrats in congress consider whether or not to block legislation to fund the Department of Homeland Security (of which Ice is a part), potentially triggering a shutdown of the federal government when the current funding package ends at midnight on Friday. The US federal government only recently emerged from its longest-ever shutdown—43 days—in November.