Art shines over L.A. as a call to action on ICE raids

Towering images projected on buildings ask, ‘Am I Next?’

- JAMES RAINEY

Photographs by WALLY SKALIJ California Community Foundation ONE OF THE IMAGES in the new installation appears in downtown Los Angeles on Thursday night.

"Am I next?" That's the simple question that Californians will ask themselves if an art installation in Los Angeles lands with the wallop organizers intend.

The question is being projected on the sides of three downtown buildings, including one overlooking the 101 Freeway. It is followed with snippets of text describing how Southern Californians have been carted away by immigration agents, followed by massive black and white photographs of everyday Angelenos who worry they could be next.

Politicians, lawyers and everyday Californians have rallied to express their outrage about the raids. The “No Kings” rallies last month drew many protesters angry over the raids. The “Am I Next?” installation extends the pushback against Trump to the arts and nonprofit communities.

Leading the public art rebuttal are the California Community Foundation and several partners — LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, the Japanese American National Museum, the Museum of Latin American Art and the Social and Public Art Resource Center. Images went up on the side of the community foundation's downtown headquarters just after sundown Thursday and on other high-visibility buildings downtown, on the Westside and in Long Beach.