By Peggy McInerny, Director of Communications

“ICE OUT: Arte en Resistencia!”, an exhibition organized by UCLA undergraduates, opens March 10 with a panel discussion, followed by live music. It features work by Los Angeles artists Mykle Parker, Josiah O'Balles and Ernesto Yerena.

UCLA International Institute, March 10, 2026 — When two Bruin friends took the same honors collegium class in winter quarter 2026, “Critical Vision: History of Art as Political and Social Commentary” (HNRS M179), it seemed inevitable that their mutual interests would lead to a collaborative project. The course, taught by Paul Von Blum, a lifelong political activist, gives students a choice of final project: a 20-page paper about an artist, an internship, or an art gallery/art exhibition.

Drawing on the Arte en Resistencia (Art as Resistance) tradition of Latin America and their own experience as activists in Los Angeles, UCLA juniors Elías Alvarado and Zooey Lê-Baker joined together to organize an exhibit of local Los Angeles artists in honor of immigrant laborers.

“ICE OUT: Arte en Resistencia!” opens today, March 10, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. in UCLA’s Haines Hall, Room 144. Cosponsored by the UCLA Center for the Study of International Migration (CSIM), the National Day Laborer Organization (NDLON, an immigrant rights nonprofit organization) and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, the exhibit runs through May 26. It features the work of three artists: muralist Josiah O’Balles; photographer Mykle Parker; and artist, printmaker and muralist Ernesto Yerena. All three artists have collaborated on exhibits with NDLON.

The opening will include a panel discussion with the student co-organizers, Parker and O’Balles, moderated by UCLA sociologist and CSIM Director Cecilia Menjívar. Live music will follow the discussion and feature songs of protest from the local band, Los Jornaleros Del Norte [Day Laborers of the North], as well as classic songs of protest from Latin America.

The power of art in activism

“I grew up in a household of activists,” said Alvarado (UCLA 2027), a political science major. “My dad is a musician from Los Angeles, but also an immigrant from El Salvador. He directs NDLON.

“Throughout my childhood, I really learned about the impact of art through him. He plays in Los Jornaleros Del Norte… Growing up, I was listening to their protest music, and then I eventually joined the band. I saw how art is able to empower groups of people and bring people together under a single message and just really strengthens an audience. Through that, I always had this notion that art is powerful.”

Lê-Baker (UCLA 2027), who double majors in history and public affairs, concurred on the importance of art in activism. “I went to VAPA [Ramón C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts], which is the downtown [LAUSD] arts high school and was involved with a lot of activism there,” she said.

“I founded the Students Deserve chapter on that campus, which was pushing police off campus and [working to divest] millions of dollars from the LAUSD PD. The way that we did that organizing was a lot through art movements.

“I also worked with the youth group for the ACLU,” she continued. “We were on the same campaign of trying to push police off campus and stop random searches and [encourage] more funding for mental health services.

“We hosted an art gallery for our school district, and… were able to sort of speak [through the art] to the board members about pushing more money into the Black Student Achievement Program and into mental health.

“Those two experiences really taught me that art is definitely at the foundation of [reflecting] the experiences of people who are not always listened to or not always heard. We were making a lot of speeches, but they weren’t always heard as much as the art, which moved more board members.”

Exhibit honors immigrant day laborers and the artists who document their lives

“I wanted day laborers to be central,” said Alvarado, who spearheaded the idea for the exhibition. “These are people who are often disregarded, [as if] they are discarded, and treated like 'untouchables.'* What we found by working with a lot of these folks is that they’re people who carry a lot of pride and love for their community.”

He noted that two major events have greatly impacted the lives of immigrant workers over the past year, both of which have threatened their livelihoods: the Eaton Fire of January 2025 and the mass deportation campaign launched by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Los Angeles last summer.

“It’s important to recognize that what is happening now is not specific to the Trump administration,” commented Lê-Baker. She stressed the necessity of engaging people in conversations that encourage them to take action against current policies.

“[These] are not passive things happening to immigrant communities,” she said. “We need to talk about exactly what we are doing to respond. Who are the people that it’s happening to? What are they doing? And what are we doing to combat this?’”

“I think people are feeling, ‘There’s just nothing we can do, because it’s an endless onslaught,” said Lê-Baker. “What we’re trying to show is that’s not true. I think pointing out movements rooted in love can persuade people.”

“Zooey and I both were thinking about the state violence that’s being used right now by immigration enforcement agents. We wanted to think about how people have organized on a local level, and consider things like CDCs (community defense corners) — all these different tight networks that people have formed in order to resist this siege,” said Alvarado.

“This is not just about immigrants,” he stressed. “In reality, it’s bigger than that. It’s just the case that immigrants are first, but anybody else could be next.”

The exhibit aims to honor both the ground organization taking place in immigrant communities and the artists who have been telling their stories. “What we appreciate about these artists is that they were able to capture all of that organizing in the past year through their art,” said Alvarado. “And we’re very pleased with the final message that it produces, which is one of peace and one of love as resistance.”

*“Untouchables” refers to the Dalits, who are considered the lowest caste in the Indian caste system. (For more information, see this article.)  

Published: Tuesday, March 10, 2026