20/10/2024
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Colorado has filed a lawsuit against the city of Vail on behalf of the artist Danielle SeeWalker, alleging that the municipality violated her federal and state right to free speech when it cancelled her residency earlier this year after she posted an image in support of Palestine on Instagram. The lawsuit was filed in district court in Colorado on 14 October.
In January 2024, the town of Vail invited SeeWalker to be a summer artist-in-residence. The residency was part of Vail’s Art in Public Places Program (AIPP), which is overseen by a volunteer board appointed by the Town Council. AIPP offered SeeWalker two weeks of housing, a mural commission and participation in several community engagement activities. After months of planning, a site visit and negotiating a fee and materials budget of $10,000, Vail officially announced SeeWalker as the AIPP’s artist-in-residence on 6 May. One day later, Vail officials informed SeeWalker that her residency was cancelled due to an image she had posted on Instagram of a work depicting a woman wearing a keffiyeh and titled G is for Genocide. The painting, which was unrelated to the residency and the work SeeWalker planned to show in Vail, was for sale and, according to the post, raising money for the United Nations Crisis Relief Fund to aid Palestinians.
Read more: https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2024/10/17/danielle-seewalker-american-civil-liberties-union-colorado-sue-vail-residency
