Dear Kos Community
As you know, because of the cruel immigration policies of the current administration in Washington seven children have died. It horrifies me that immigrant children are forcibly separated from their families, are kept in caged cells and are in the care of armed US immigration guards. I despise it when people justify the current treatment of immigrants and their families by claiming they broke the law. I was born in West Germany, my mother was German (she later immigrated to the US) and my father was a U.S. soldier stationed there. Living in Germany during my formative years I learned early on about Hitler’s Germany. His followers too, liked to prattle about broken laws to justify reporting their Jewish neighbors to Nazis knowing they were sending them to certain death. Germans knew exactly what was happening in the camps, most were either adoring followers of Hitler or citizens who decided to ignore the atrocities occurring around them.
The normalization of the abusive treatment of immigrant children and their families, in a nation of immigrants will continue and will ultimately lead down an ever darker path if not stopped. The level of cruelty currently being spawned in this country is the kind of cruelty that led to the spread of intolerance and violence in Hitler’s Germany. It didn’t happen overnight. Hitler became leader of the Nazi party in 1920, he became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the first Nazi detention camps for “undesirables” and “criminals” opened immediately after and the twelve years that followed saw the relentless progression of a network of camps administered by a political system that, as policy, justified the torture and mass murder of millions.
As an artist, as the child of an immigrant and because of my German heritage, I felt compelled to do something to help increase awareness of the horrific cost of politically sanctioned cruelty. I’m an oil painter, www.marinasartwork.net and I have begun a project to remember the seven children who have died as a result of current US immigration policies. My goal is to paint 16” x 20” portraits of each of the seven children and to exhibit their paintings in a traveling exhibit. My hope is that the exhibits will raise awareness and will help to personalize the impact of these children’s deaths. I am using representational photos of the children that have been in the public media. These are the photos that will be most easily recognized by the public. A fellow artist friend who speaks Spanish has offered to help me contact the families or representatives of the children for personal stories of the children that will accompany the paintings. So far I’ve received great feedback from others regarding this project people feel it will send a moving and powerful message about our shared humanity and our shared responsibilities. People have asked if the paintings will be for sale, the paintings will not be for sale while on tour. People have also asked if I will donate a percentage of any proceeds for the paintings. I will donate a percentage of any proceeds generated from the paintings and will seek guidance in this regard. The donations will go to organizations that are helping or legally representing migrants, immigrants or refugees, either locally or nationally. I have two paintings already started and that I am currently in the process of completing. The first painting is of Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal Maquin age 7, she died in US Customs and Border Patrol custody on December 8, 2018. The second is of Felipe Gomez Alonzo, age 8, he died on Christmas Eve, December 24, 2018. Here are photos of the two paintings currently in progress:
I will need financial funding in order to develop this project, to create the paintings, to create a project website, to get its exhibit out on tour and more. I’m reaching out to the Kos community and my social network in order to help fund it. The art supplies and materials (canvas, oils, brushes, mediums, etc.) need to be purchased to complete the remaining paintings. Studio and work time must be allocated to allow me to put other art work on hold in order to focus exclusively on this project until completion. I will also need to buy and develop a website for the paintings (I am open to name suggestion). The project will need to be advertised and promoted in order to help with the promotion of the exhibits and tours. In addition, the paintings will need to be individually framed and insured. As a classically trained painter it takes time to complete one painting, sometimes months. However, my goal is to have all the paintings completed within the next eight months. This will require working on them almost daily full time. I have worked on Jakelin’s painting for the past couple of weeks and just started Felipe’s.
I don’t know where this project will lead but I hope to inspire others, as they look into the eyes of the children in these paintings, to demand an end to the cruelty, within the immigration system, responsible for their deaths. And mostly I want to remember the helpless and economically stricken children who innocently stepped into a U.S. immigration system that treated their lives as expendable.
The names of the other five children who have died while in or having been detained in U.S Customs and Border Patrol custody:
16 year old Carlos Gregorio Hernandez Vasquez, died May 19, 2019
10-year-old Darlyn Cristabel Cordova-Valle, died September 27, 2018
2 year old Mariee Juarez, died May 10, 2019
16 year-old Juan de León Gutiérrez, died April 30, 2019
2-year-old Wilmer Josué Ramírez Vásquez, died May 14, 2019
Please feel free to donate at any level and spread the word!
You can donate here at www.paypal.com/.... You can also support the project by buying art for sale on my website, www.marinasartwork.net . Or you can support it by going to Getty Images to purchase some of my photographs https://www.istockphoto.com/portfolio/goldhawk?assettype=image&sort=mostpopular . And finally I am also, offering rewards for donations on a first come first serve basis. I was a Colorado state delegate for President Obama in 2008 and have been politically active over the years. I have historic memorabilia. They are as follows: The first 3 donations of $1000, or more will receive one of three Obama posters*.
- Shepherd Fairey Yes We Did, Obama Poster, 24” X 36”
- 2742/5000 Limited Edition Amtar Dayal , Yes We Can, Obama Poster, 25”x40”
- 6014/10,000 Shepherd Fairey Limited Edition Be the Change, Obama Poster, 24”x33”
*All are in new condition, never used, only out of original shipping tube for photos
First $750 donation will receive 8x10 photo of then Senator Obama with President Clinton visiting Katrina survivors at Texas Astrodome (Taken by AP photographer who sold it to me on eBay) No certificate of authenticity, but the journalist assured me that Senator Obama had signed it.
First $500 donation will receive Brushed Silver 2009 Inaugural Frame 8”x10” New condition, never used.
First eight $250 donation will receive a mint condition magazine with President Obama on the cover.
First $100 donation will receive a Hillary Clinton size M campaign t-shirt, new in bag.
First two $75 donations will receive 2008 Obama campaign button
Donations of $50 or more will receive an original unopened President Obama campaign mailer, until they run out.
Help spread the word! If you have any questions you can message me through dKos or my website www.marinasartwork.net Thank you for reading!
I will post periodic status updates to the Dkos community.