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A Somali-American Artist Speaks Out

Minnesota art orgs take a stand against ICE, Senate rescues arts funding, and what exactly is the “2016 trend”?

Hyperallergic

January 23, 2026— 4 min read

Amid the savagery of the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration — culminating in the killing of Renee Nicole MacklinGood — everyday Americans have shown incredible courage in pushing back against ICE’s takeover of their cities. Joining them today are several Minnesotaart institutions that will close their doors to protest against the cruel treatment of their neighbors.

You can read all about that today, plus a moving personal essay by Ifrah Mansour, a Somali-American artist based in Minnesota. She writes about the pain of enduring such unprecedented levels of violence and racism in the place she calls home. And yet, she believes that kindness and generosity will ultimately win.

—Hakim Bishara, editor-in-chief

image-78-1 — Ifrah Mansour, “Weaving Abundance” (2024) (photo courtesy Bakar Elmi)

On Being a Somali Artist in Minnesota

“To live in Minnesota as Somalis at this moment can feel like being skinned bit by bit,” writes Mansour, whose public artworks can be found across Minneapolis. “The pain of an entire community being bullied by a government is unimaginable — and, unfortunately, unoriginal. This has happened to so many other communities before us.”

Request for Proposals: Operator for the Harlem African Burial Ground Cultural Education Center

Learn about this opportunity to develop a cultural education center at the historic East Harlem site during informational sessions in January and February.

Learn more

News

image-79-1 — Nile Harris, *this house is not a home* (2023–ongoing). Harris canceled his Friday staging of the performance in solidarity with the anti-ICE strike. (photo by Alex Munro, courtesy the artist and Walker Art Center)

The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis Institute of Art, and other Twin Cities art institutions are closed today to protest against ICE operations in the area.
After months of uncertainty, the Senate has confirmed full or near-full funding for cultural organizations, including the Institute of American Indian Arts, the world’s only university dedicated to the study of contemporary Native American and Alaska Native art.

Sandcastles Tells the Tale of Two Singapores

The new short from documentary filmmaker and multimedia journalist Carin Leong explores the transient nature of humankind’s existence through sand.

Learn more

From Our Critics

Detail of Nicola L., “Fur Room” (1969/2020) in *I Am the Last Woman Object* at Museion, Bolzano (photo Kimberly Bradley/*Hyperallergic*)

Nicola L.’s Soft Power

The late artist’s playful “functional sculptures” nod to second-wave feminism, but make a broader statement about resistance through collaboration. | Kimberly Bradley

Community

A View From the Easel

This week, Clara Cohan from Cape Elizabeth, Maine, carves faces into tree trunks, and Maria Schechter from Bloomington, Indiana, forages for color in the natural world. Your studio, in your own words, could be next!

Art Movements: New Leaders Everywhere

In this week’s roundup of industry news: Creative Time, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the New Mexico Museum of Art get new leaders, plus the Whitney Museum’s head-scratching “cosmic look” at its 2026 Biennial artists.

Required Reading

Rose B. Simpson at SFMOMA, historical writers with day jobs, anti-surveillance clothing, a day in the life of an art conservator, and what is the “2016 trend”?

Member Comment

Michael Cammer on Paddy Johnson’s “Art Problems: How Do I Get Into the Whitney Biennial?”:

It would be very interesting to hear about how selection for The Whitney Biennial has changed over the years, specifically from before the the Internet to now. How much has this made a difference? It seemed that personal relationships were more important in the 1980s when I first because knowledgeable of Whitney Biennial through now. (For instance, the article mentions the Sonabend Gallery, and back in the 1980s it seemed that Soho galleries had direct placement rights for the Biennial.) Or have only the methods of communication changed, but not so much the relationships themselves. Perhaps this is anecdotal, but the people I know personally or know about through friends/ family who have been in the Biennial have a natural talent for schmoozing and also work very hard at it, or they have galleries doing this for them. Is there really anybody in the Biennial who hasn’t worked very hard at being seen and known as well as at their art?

From the Archive

image-80-1 — Works by Aziz Osman in *Anomalous Expansion* (photo courtesy Mohamud Mumin)

Somali American Artists Create a Space All Their Own

St. John’s Catholic Church was built in 1922 to serve the growing Irish immigrant parish that was founded in 1887 on the city’s east side. | Sheila Dickinson

Daily Newsletter
Newsletter

Request for Proposals: Operator for the Harlem African Burial Ground Cultural Education Center

Learn about this opportunity to develop a cultural education center at the historic East Harlem site during informational sessions in January and February.

New York Academy of Art Presents “Chubb Fellows & Friends”

Featuring past fellows alongside a broader circle of artists linked to the Academy, the show brings together work by Danica Lundy, Dana Schutz, Tschabalala Self, Amy Sherald, and more.

For Which It Stands…

Commemorating the 250th anniversary of the United States, this major loan exhibition at the Fairfield University Art Museum explores more than a century of artists taking on the American flag.

Grow as an Artist Without Pressing Pause: SVA’s Online MFA Art Practice

Interdisciplinary, online, and connected to New York’s art ecosystem. Applications are due on January 15.

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