SeeWalker v. Vail

  • Filed: 10/14/2024
  • Status: In federal trial court
  • Latest Update: Oct 15, 2024
Placeholder image

Danielle SeeWalker was selected as Vail’s summer 2024 Artist in Residence. But after she expressed her views on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, Vail cancelled her residency. We sued Vail on behalf of Ms. SeeWalker for the town's unconstitutional viewpoint-based discrimination and retaliation.

In January of 2024, Vail selected Danielle SeeWalker, a Denver-based Húŋkpapȟa Lakȟóta artist, to be its summer 2024 Artist in Residence. Ms. SeeWalker’s residency would have included creating a mural in Vail as well as other engagements, such as hands-on art instruction and displays of her work at the library and welcome centers.

Less than two months before Ms. SeeWalker’s residency was set to begin, Vail abruptly cancelled it because of an unrelated artwork that Ms. SeeWalker posted on her Instagram page. The artwork is entitled “G is for Genocide” and expresses parallels Ms. SeeWalker sees between what is happening to Palestinians in Gaza and the genocide of Indigenous people in the United States. Prominent townspeople complained about the post, and Vail decided it could not have someone like Ms. SeeWalker, who expressed her views on the crisis in Gaza, as its Artist in Residence.

We sued Vail in federal court for violating Ms. SeeWalker’s free speech rights under the federal and state constitutions. While Vail was not constitutionally required to establish an Artist in Residency program, once it did so, it was not permitted to condition participation in the program on personal assent with Vail’s preferred views on the crisis in Gaza. Nor was Vail permitted to retaliate against Ms. SeeWalker for expressing views with which the Town disagreed.

We are committed to fighting these injustices in court. Vail’s cancellation of Ms. SeeWalker’s residency is reminiscent of historical attempts to silence Native voices and perspectives in this country and state. Too often, the rights of Native Americans are violated and ignored. We must hold local governments accountable as they perpetuate these patterns and fail to address the continuing harms of colonial systems of oppression.



Attorney(s):
Timothy R. Macdonald, Sara R. Neel, Laura Moraff
Pro Bono Firm:
Andy McNulty, Mari Newman, and Madeline Leibin of Newman | McNulty