The Deportation Resistance Art Workshops (DRAW) Project is a grassroots collaboration between educators and students, from Maywood Center for Enriched Studies, in response to the oppression and terrorism of the Trump administration and the Homeland Security Department amongst the Southeast Los Angeles immigrant community and nationwide. Victoria Villalobos, Christin Villalobos, and Yesenia Carvajal are three k-12th educators who see the need to provide students with a safe space to process and resist the oppression and reimagine a dignified future free from white supremacy.

The DRAW Project’s goal was to create an art installation that would bring solidarity and hope to the SELA community. Students left the 2024-2025 school year overwhelmed with fear and anxiety as news flooded streets and homes about the 30-day persecution of immigrant folx. Students quickly grasped that the SELA community was significantly targeted more than other communities. Students brought their stories and feelings to engage in the 3-part, 6-week workshop. 

First, students learned how to interact with ICE agents if they came knocking at their doors by learning response and discussion techniques appropriate for age and context. Then, students learned how the Monarch butterfly symbolizes strength and hope for immigrants; they created small and large Monarch butterflies to represent the strength in connection and community. Second, students learned about the 3 Dimensions of Protesting; (1) to demand justice from an organization, (2) to disrupt normal living against an injustice, (3) and to democratize against oppressive systems. Consequently, students created protest art using words and phrases and colors to dissent the persecution of immigrant folx. Lastly, students connected to create the final installation reimagining how fear can be transformed into resistance and hope. Students collectively expressed the experience as calming and empowering.