Minneapolis art museums close in support of ICE protests
Museums that will close include the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Institute of Art, Museum of Russian Art, the Textile Center, and more.
Government and Cultural Heritage
Art museums in Minneapolis will close Friday in support of widespread protests in Minnesota against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the wake of the shooting death of Renee Good and other violence.
“In support of our community, the Walker is closed today, and tonight's Nile Harris performance is canceled,” Minneapolis’ Walker Art Center said in a note on its website.
The Minneapolis Institute of Art similarly shared on its website that the museum would close Friday.
“We're pausing operations to recognize the weight of this moment in our community and to care for our employees and people in the Twin Cities community,” the museum said. “Regular museum hours will resume on Saturday, January 24.”
The MIA also shared its message to Facebook, where a commenter questioned if employees would still be paid or if they would lose their salary for the day “due to your performative self-oppression.”
“Of course, staff are being paid,” the museum retorted.
Other art spaces that announced their closure Friday include The Museum of Russian Art, which did not provide a reason for the closure, and the Minnesota African American Heritage Museum and Gallery, which said it was “due to extreme weather conditions.”
Hundreds of other Twin Cities businesses and organizations are expected to participate in the statewide protest Friday, dubbed “ICE Out of Minnesota: Day of Truth and Freedom.”
In the weeks since Good was shot dead inside of her car, masked and heavily armed agents have smashed windows and used crowd control agents against civilians in their chaotic and violent campaign in the state.
Last week, ICE agents in North Minneapolis shot a man in the leg, who was taken away by ambulance as authorities denied medical care to a pregnant woman present inside the home.
Earlier this week, ICE agents kidnapped 5-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos as he arrived home from preschool. Witnesses described agents taking little Liam from a running vehicle in the family’s driveway and asking him to knock on the home’s front door to check for other occupants so they could arrest his father.
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Kapoor told Urgent Matter it was “particularly tragic” that Border Patrol “thugs” shouted “Little Village” as a “fascist battle cry.”
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The young child and his father were later transported to a family immigration detention facility in Texas, where they are being held pending immigration proceedings, the family’s attorney has said. School officials said the family is pursuing legal asylum and has complied with U.S. immigration requirements.
The Columbia Heights Public Schools superintendent and other officials have said that at least three other students, including a 10-year-old and two 17-year-olds, have been detained by immigration officers in recent weeks in separate encounters.
“Our world is knitted, woven, stitched, quilted, and beaded together — connection is core to our field,” the Textile Center said in its message announcing its participating in the day-of-action Friday. “Taking this day for community service and wellbeing helps us live out this value.”
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