Artivism & Activism:
Research Briefing
The artivism landscape over the past year has been defined by an unprecedented collision between creative resistance and institutional suppression. Artists across the United States have mobilized at a scale not seen in decades — culminating in the Fall of Freedom movement with 600+ events across 40 states — while simultaneously confronting federal defunding, museum censorship, and a climate of fear that has pushed major cultural institutions toward self-censorship. The Trump administration’s proposed elimination of the NEA, cancellation of hundreds of grants, and ideological conditions on cultural funding have created what advocates describe as a “starvation age” for culture, even as street-level artivism — particularly around immigration enforcement — has flourished with extraordinary grassroots energy.
The Fall of Freedom — Mass Creative Resistance
Nationwide Artists Protest in Historic “Fall of Freedom” Movement
Over 600 events were staged across more than 40 states in what became one of the largest coordinated acts of artistic protest in modern U.S. history. Organized by figures including Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, artist Dread Scott, and Miguel Luciano, the movement was framed as creative resistance to authoritarianism. Events ranged from benefit concerts headlined by Sheryl Crow at Pioneer Works to roundtable discussions on civil disobedience in Moscow, Idaho.
“UPRISE 2025: The Art of Resistance” — 100 Artists Mark a Decade of Activist Exhibition
One hundred artists participated in this landmark exhibition opening on International Women’s Day, addressing gender equality, immigration rights, reproductive justice, and LGBTQ+ rights. The show explicitly confronted attacks on DEI programs and framed art as a vital tool for resistance amid what the curator called a hostile political climate.
Hyperallergic’s “10 Artworks That Spoke Truth to Power in 2025”
A year-end survey documented key works of resistance including: Banksy’s mural at the Royal Courts of Justice depicting a judge beating a protester (quickly whitewashed by authorities); the People’s Forum’s installation of 17,000 pairs of children’s shoes on Pennsylvania Avenue representing Palestinian children killed; detained migrants spelling “SOS” with their bodies at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Texas; and Mexican artist Fabián Cháirez’s queer religious portraits becoming flashpoints for artistic freedom debates.
Federal Defunding & Institutional Censorship
Trump Administration Proposes Eliminating the NEA; Hundreds of Grants Canceled
The FY2026 budget proposal called for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. The same week, the NEA began issuing grant termination notices, ultimately canceling over 50% of open awards — an estimated $27 million funding gap. Senior NEA officials resigned en masse, including 10 directors overseeing grants across art disciplines. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting voted to dissolve in January 2026 after losing all federal support.
Museum Censorship Escalates: Queer Art, Political Work Targeted
A Freemuse report documented a sharp global escalation in repression toward artists. In the U.S., artist Amy Sherald canceled her Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery show after the museum had “internal concerns” about a painting featuring a Black trans woman as the Statue of Liberty. The Smithsonian postponed an exhibition of LGBTQ African artists. In Indonesia, an exhibition was canceled minutes before opening for criticizing state violence. Across the U.S., museums altered exhibition titles, removed works, and added “liability waivers” to politically engaged shows.
Arts Organizations Warn of “Golden Age of Propaganda” and “Starvation Age for Culture”
A coalition including the NCAC, PEN America, the Authors Guild, and the Dramatists Guild issued a joint statement condemning the administration’s efforts to impose ideological control over federally funded cultural programs, warning of a desire to turn arts programs into “instruments of political messaging.”
Art Against ICE — Immigration Artivism
Patrick Martinez’s “DEPORT ICE” Becomes Iconic Protest Symbol
LA-based artist Patrick Martinez’s teal neon sign spelling “DEPORT ICE,” originally created in 2018, became the visual rallying cry of the summer 2025 anti-ICE protests when thousands took to downtown Los Angeles streets. Martinez created handmade protest signage — posters, stencils, spray-painted placards — for marches near MOCA, whose own Barbara Kruger mural served as backdrop for clashes between police and protesters in scenes echoing the 1992 LA Uprising.
“Am I Next?” — Public Art Campaign Confronts ICE Raids in Los Angeles
The California Community Foundation led a major public art installation projecting black-and-white portraits of Angelenos — including actors Edward James Olmos and George Takei — onto buildings along the 101 freeway. Interspersed between the portraits were names of people seized by immigration agents with descriptions of the circumstances: “Mauricio, waiting for a bus. Juan, on lunch break from his construction job.”
Minneapolis Artists Create Anti-ICE Visual Language
Minnesota artists have built an entire visual vocabulary of resistance: Sean Lim’s monarch butterfly-adorned “We Love Our Immigrant Neighbors” signs became ubiquitous; illustrator D Guzman’s loon-breaking-chains poster sold out 200 copies at a single rally; Andi Fink’s “Leave MN ALoon” design raised over $10,000 for immigrant rights organizations. The imagery accompanied thousands of protesters marching along Minneapolis’s Lake Street against ICE’s “Operation Metro Surge.”
LA Print Shops Weaponize Art Against ICE
Hollywood print shop Nonstop Printing distributed an estimated 1,500–2,000 free protest signs created by local artists. Illustrator Christine LêSantos’ “ABOLISH ICE” design featured constitutional immigrant rights printed in English and Spanish. The shop’s owner described being “radicalized by print” through working with politically engaged artists.
Global Artivism Infrastructure
Global Artivism Conference 2025 — Salvador, Brazil
The second Global Artivism Conference convened 800 artists, activists, and cultural leaders in Salvador, Brazil ahead of COP 30, explicitly positioning cultural strategy alongside political and climate action. The conference built on the premise that artists are “central architects” of social change, not peripheral players.
Bertha Artivism Awards 2025
The Bertha Foundation continued its global grant program for arts-based activism projects of any artistic medium, providing up to $20,000 per project. The program explicitly links artistic practice to community empowerment and social impact documentation.
SXSW 2025: “Art in Protest — Fostering Democracy Through Creative Dissent”
A panel convened artists from the frontlines of democracy-building across Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, examining how different art modalities — performance art, film, visual arts, music — serve as tools for peaceful, creative dissent.
The state of Article 18 rights as they relate to artivism in early 2026 is defined by a stark paradox: creative resistance has surged to historic levels even as the institutional and financial infrastructure supporting artistic freedom faces systematic dismantling. The Fall of Freedom movement demonstrated that artists can collectively assert their right to conscience and expression at unprecedented scale. Yet the conditions enabling that expression — federal arts funding, institutional independence, museum programming free from political pressure — have eroded significantly.
The proposed elimination of the NEA, the cancellation of over 50% of active grants, the dissolution of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the conditioning of remaining funding on ideological compliance represent a coordinated challenge to the independence of artistic expression. Meanwhile, the pattern of museum self-censorship — exhibitions canceled, titles altered, shows postponed — reveals how state pressure operates not only through direct action but through the cultivation of institutional fear.
Critically, artivism around immigration enforcement has demonstrated the resilience of grassroots creative expression: from Patrick Martinez’s neon signs to Minneapolis loon posters to LA print shop protest signs, artists have built new networks of production and distribution that operate outside threatened institutional channels. This grassroots infrastructure may prove to be the most durable defense of Article 18 rights in the current moment.
The challenge ahead is whether the cultural ecosystem can sustain itself as federal support vanishes and institutional risk-aversion deepens. The question is not whether artists will continue to create works of conscience — they clearly will — but whether the broader cultural infrastructure will protect or abandon them.