MCAD Impacted by Federal ICE Operations in Minneapolis | Minneapolis College of Art and Design

MCAD Impacted by Federal ICE Operations in Minneapolis

March 11, 2026
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"ICE OUT OF MN!", banner printed on large-scale press designed by Piotr Szyhalski

The Minneapolis College of Art and Design has been directly affected by recent federal immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis, following the killing of nurse Alex Pretti by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on January 24 just outside the college’s campus.

Artists and educators affiliated with MCAD have joined broader efforts across the Twin Cities arts community, participating in mutual aid, protest art, and direct action to support neighbors facing detention.

Polish-born artist and MCAD professor Piotr Szyhalski, who has lived in Minneapolis for more than thirty years, said the situation recalls his experiences of martial law in 1980s Communist Poland. In response, Szyhalski has reactivated a public-access letterpress project, making tools available for printing protest banners and posters. For him and others, art has become a means of resistance, solidarity, and survival as the city’s creative community grapples with the ongoing crisis.

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The Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) acknowledges it is located on traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of Indigenous people. This is the ancestral homeland of the Dakota and Ojibwe people, who were forcibly exiled from the land because of aggressive and persistent settler colonialism. We recognize that this place has a complex and layered history. As a community dedicated to creativity, MCAD is committed to ongoing efforts to support and advocate for American Indian Nations and peoples.


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