Neighborisms | Julie Buffalohead

In these new works, Buffalohead has created a drama of animals that expresses solidarity with Twin Cities communities, making their voices heard in opposition to the killings and kidnappings of civilians that occurred as a result of Operation Metro Surge. Touted by the Department of Homeland Security as the largest immigration enforcement operation ever carried out, the surge was characterized by harassment, inflammatory rhetoric and severe tactics, all of which disrupted civil society, damaged the economy and forced many to retreat indoors out of fear.

The animals depicted in the featured works on paper embody the range of emotions felt – and the actions undertaken – by the people of Minnesota throughout the surge, calling out the wrongdoings of ICE agents while formulating community driven resistance to occupation. Neighborisms is an affirmation of the regular citizens whose spontaneous uprising of activism, protest and acts of neighborly love repelled the surge locally and provided international inspiration in the face of wanton cruelty.

Presented alongside Tapestry | Aaron Spangler with Bruce Engebretson

Image: Julie Buffalohead, Resist, 2026