Tuesday, April 21 / 1PM PST

SOMOS VISIBLES / WE ARE NOT INVISIBLE by Ana Teresa Fernández + Arleene Correa Valencia

Tuesday, April 21 at 1pm join artists Arleene Correa Valencia + Ana Teresa Fernández as they offer a participatory reimagination of their collaboration SOMOS VISIBLES on YBCA’s Instagram Live and Acción Latina’s Instagram Live. This ongoing project takes a political stance on visibility through the use of high visibility ready-to-wear safety gear present throughout many labor industries, and as it relates to the invisibility of the undocumented in the U.S..  

While there is no citizenship question on the 2020 Census, many undocumented residents are still hesitant to be counted, to be seen, and have their voices heard. To galvanize these communities to claim their fair share of resources, SOMOS VISIBLES was originally planned to be brought into neighborhoods as part of Art+Action’s COME TO YOUR CENSUS campaign—including during Acción Latina’s bi-monthly community art event Paseo Artistico. The project was also to be part of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ art & civic experience Come to Your Census: Who Counts in America?, which is now being reimagined online through a series of activities and conversations. During these planned activations, the artists would engage in dialogue about how the Census impacts our most vulnerable, and gift a free art sweatshirt to anyone who completed the Census.

This Tuesday, the artists will adapt their work for the current moment, showing us how to transform this message of visibility from sweatshirts to face masks used as personal protective equipment (PPE) that healthcare professionals, essential workers, and citizens around the world are using to halt the spread of COVID-19. Many of our healthcare and essential workers are immigrants or undocumented, and now more than ever we need to ensure they count. Join Acción Latina, YBCA, San Francisco’s Office of Civic Engagement & Immigrant Affairs (OCEIA), and Art+Action, as the artists walk us through the steps to make your own face mask while addressing the question of visibility for our undocumented communities.

Read more about SOMOS VISIBLES—made possible through the generous support of Levi’s—and the artists’ work here. To receive a SOMOS VISIBLES sweatshirt, send proof that you’ve taken your 2020 Census before October 31 to hello@artandaction.us.