By Laura Moraff, Staff Attorney
This year on Indigenous Peoples’ Day, the ACLU of Colorado sued the town of Vail for violating the free speech rights of Danielle SeeWalker, a Húŋkpapȟa Lakȟóta artist. Vail selected Ms. SeeWalker to be its Summer 2024 Artist in Residence, which would have involved painting a mural in the town and participating in additional engagements. After months of planning, Vail abruptly cancelled Ms. SeeWalker’s residency because of the views she expressed in an original artwork — one entirely unrelated to her residency — that she posted to Instagram. The artwork, entitled “G is for Genocide,” draws parallels between the genocide of Native Americans in the United States and the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
Vail’s cancellation of Ms. SeeWalker’s residency violated the federal and state constitutions. Once Vail decided to establish an Artist in Residency program, it could not condition participation in the program on personal adherence to Vail’s preferred viewpoints, nor could Vail retaliate against Ms. SeeWalker for expressing views with which the town disagreed. We, along with cooperating counsel from Newman|McNulty, are determined to hold Vail accountable for these violations and prevent similar violations in the future.