Art: Creative Resistance in the Age of AI and Authoritarianism

Experience Art This Summer

My friends, in the year 2025, we are both living in the future and the past, with one foot in each. As Artificial Intelligence has become increasingly prevalent, Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, has become a commonly used tool in workplaces, schools, and, as I will discuss here, even in the arts. 

The sci-fi fantasy of robots alleviating humans of our menial chores, as well as the horror of unchecked technological power destroying the world, seem to be materializing before our eyes, and it’s difficult to determine whether to be marveled or afraid.

Online artist communities are full of arguments against AI, claiming that it is stealing other artists’ work. In other cases, AI in art has been welcomed and collaborative, as seen in Paul Sermon’s installation within an ISDN network using projectors, “Telematic Dreaming,” and David Rokeby’s interactive sound installation, which uses cameras and participants’ movements to create music, “Very Nervous System.” 

According to the article “AI Art and its Impact on Artists” (Jieng, Brown, et al, 2023), there are several harms to consider when it comes to AI in art spaces. American cartoonist Sarah Andersen wrote in her 2022 New York Times piece about the reputational damage her career incurred when Alt-Right communities altered her comics with swastikas and other racist messaging she did not support, and how much worse this phenomenon has become with the advent of image generators. Plagiarism and copyright infringement.

While AI thrusts us into the future, the United States is regressing, perhaps in every other imaginable way. Government entities are inhumanely imprisoning immigrants and rolling back decades’ worth of human rights legislation. Political moves made by the nation’s President both domestically and internationally are an unsettling repetition of Hitler’s genocidal world-domination tactics. Drastic executive orders have included the gutting of arts funds, and in light of this the National Endowment for the Arts has revised its guidelines to include the adherence to all executive orders, which include the removal of all DEI programs and initiatives and any mention of gender ideology. As funds have dwindled, the list of acceptable subject matter for art has become even narrower.

In the dizzying dissonance between the future and the past, Denver art curator Cristina Aguilar says that art serves as a necessary mirror for the present, helping us anchor ourselves in our realities. 

Aguilar’s curations, such as “Divine Rest Nests,” showing currently at The Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art, are centered in her lineages in reproductive and healing justice, as well as collective liberation. Although AI hasn’t fully intersected with her creative spaces yet, she has concerns about how the BIPOC artists she works with can potentially have their styles and work co-opted by image generators, as mainstream white media has a tendency to do. 

What differentiates inspiration from appropriation is the acknowledgment and respect paid to sources of inspiration. “Artists are always finding inspiration and building off of each other,” Aguilar said, “but how do we do this [with AI] ethically and responsibly? It is a nuanced conversation.” AI and human artists are competing in the same markets for work, but leaders of billionaire corporations anticipate complete monopolization. On the website formerly known as Twitter, Sam Altman of Open AI stated, “Soon, AI tools will do what only very talented humans can do today. (I expect this to go mostly in the counter-intuitive order–creative fields first, cognitive labor next, and physical labor last.)…” (Altman, 2022). On the same platform, Emad Mostaque of Stability AI suggested that “Like half a AAA video game’s development cost is art & design, which is also half the time of development. That’s about to collapse => margin expansion for video game companies using this…” (Mostaque, 2022).  Aguilar said that “getting valued in payment and credit” is an essential piece to giving respect and visibility to artists, particularly BIPOC artists who have long had their work appropriated and undervalued. 

Geoff Bennet of PBS reported that on May 3rd of this year 560 grants through the National Endowment for the Arts were cancelled, totaling more than $27 million. Organizations such as  Springboard for the Arts were told, “This grant no longer meets the priorities of the federal administration.”  Aguilar calls this an “incredibly fast arc towards facism,” as those in power are attempting to block resistance through the arts. 

For Aguilar, whose work is rooted in a family lineage of Mexican healers and creating nurturing spaces for BIPOC artists to create, this visceral spike in censorship has prompted some tough conversations with the artists with whom she is in community. “It’s a priority to protect and care for everyone involved,” she said. “I am anchored into my values, keeping justice, care, and liberation at the center.” As Aguilar and her co-creators seek to create “art as loving resistance,” these tough conversations are to “ensure we are protecting artists and platforms, while holding fast to value, and without crossing over into censorship.”

“This is new and it’s not,” Aguilar says, “Artists have always been the truth tellers.” As truths are actively denied and repressed by state sanctions in the United States, identically repeating the fascist regimes which haunt our history, Aguilar resources her history of resistance to persist. “I am the great-granddaughter of revolutionaries and abolitionists. I anchor to the past to hold steady through the present.” 

The present is daunting. Xenophobia is state-sanctioned, ICE is stealing people from their homes as a modern-day gestapo. Medicaid is proposed to be defunded, further penalizing those in poverty for being in poverty. It is becoming increasingly illegal to be trans and go to school or go to the bathroom or receive healthcare. Our nation’s president has become an instrumental conspirator of the genocides being enacted in Palestine, Iran, and Sudan. There is so much grief, and it is important to feel, but we must have ways to digest that grief, move it through our bodies, and have it inspire us to action. For this, we need other people. For this, we need art. Aguilar curates the exhibits she does, so that in the midst of grief people can “find sanctuary, healing, possibility, and the heart of what roots them into their divine existence in the world.” 

As it is with any progress, we seek to integrate the new while honoring what and who is already there. And as the fear of history repeating coils around our necks, remember that the legacy of resistance goes as far back as the legacy of bigotry. 

Art and artists like Aguilar invite us to imagine possible worlds and work towards them. Ones in which center care, equity, uplifting historically-marginalized voices, actively learning and integrating the lessons from their stories. A world like that which we live in now, where a squirrel from the tree at Cristina’s home throws a leaf into her face in the middle of our interview, reminding us that there is always a reason to laugh. The grief may be omnipresent and looming, but its presence is not an absolute proof to the absence of joy – they are forced to coexist. 

Arts organizations like The Creative Coalition are going to Capitol Hill to advocate for the continuation of arts’ funding, and the American Civil Liberties Union sued the NEA on behalf of four arts organizations, pressuring the NEA to consider their level of compliance with executive orders.

Join the push to support the arts. Opportunities to experience and be inspired by art to fight the hegemony this summer are limitless, but here is a list to get started on your journey:

[Sourced from event websites]

Hecho en Arte: Ni de Aqui, Ni de Alla summer workshops (July 28th through August 1st)

“This FREE week-long summer intensive brings together youth and photographers Manuel Aragon, Miguel Ortega, and Dan Taylor to explore photography as a tool for storytelling, cultural preservation, and solidarity.” Located at Hecho en Westwood

Saigon Azteca Night Market (August 8th  – August 9th) 

“A two-day celebration of culture, food, and community in the heart of Westwood! This event brings together the rich cultural traditions of Westwood’s Asian and Latinx communities through cultural performances, music, street food, artisan vendors, and family-friendly activities.”

Boulder Fine Art Street Festival (July 26th – July 27th)

“The festival showcases a variety of local and national artists, as well as skilled crafters, all presenting their handcrafted creations in a stunning outdoor setting.”

Arts in the Park (Through August 3rd)

“A program showcasing a vibrant blend of arts and cultural performances. Arts in the Park performances will take place at the Glen Huntington Band Shell in the city’s Civic Area. We’ll showcase local talent as well as performances from the Boulder Ballet, Boulder Opera, Boulder Symphony, River Mann Band, and Arts Hub.” 

SMASH Summer Fine Arts Festival (August 9th – 10th)

“Hosted in the premier, pristine Fillmore Plaza – the center/heart of & gateway into the Cherry Creek North District — an unmatched world-renowned and reputable art/cultural venue, (Fillmore St. between 1st & 2nd Ave.) amidst affluent luxury condominiums, shops, and restaurants.” 

Colorado Shakespeare Festival (Through August 10th)

“The Colorado Shakespeare Festival is a professional theatre company in association with the University of Colorado Boulder. Plays are performed beneath summer night skies in the historic Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre and in the newly renovated indoor Roe Green Theatre.”

Bravo! Vail Music Festival (Through July 31st)

“The Chamber Orchestra of Europe makes its highly anticipated debut led by acclaimed German conductor Matthias Pintscher. Internationally renowned resident orchestras—the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, The Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic—also headline the Orchestral Series alongside distinguished guest conductors Marin Alsop, Stéphane Denève, Jakub Hr?ša, Constantine Kitsopoulos, Peter Oundjian, Rafael Payare, Matthias Pintscher, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Santtu-Matias Rouvali, and Jeff Tyzik.”

Vail Dance Fest (July 26th – August 8th)

“Lighting up the Vail stages this summer will be Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet of San Francisco, a new Dorrance Dance production The Center Will Not Hold, Philadelphia’s BalletX as part of its 20th-anniversary tour, a Balanchine Celebration evening featuring Festival stars and Colorado Ballet, the Vail return of Paul Taylor Dance Company, the Festival debut of A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, as well as debuts and appearances by Festival stars including artists from New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Royal Danish Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet, and more!”

Evergreen Jazz Festival (July 25th – 27th)

“Over 22 years, Evergreen Jazz Festival has brought the best in international, world-class bands to the mountains of Colorado.”

RockyGrass (July 25th – 27th)

“Located in Lyons, Colorado, RockyGrass is traditional bluegrass at its finest. Red rock cliffs and Cottonwoods peer down over the property as the North St. Vrain River flows through the festival grounds just feet from the main stage.”

Underground Music Showcase (July 25th – 27th)

Celebrate 25 YEARS LOUD with UMS at the 25th anniversary festival in 2025! 4 stages, 12+ venues, 200+ shows, 25 years of Broadway bangers.

Cheeseman Park Art Fest (July 26th – 27th)

150 juried artists and craftsmen hail from 30 different states to showcase their work at the Cheesman Park Art Fest, a free, two-day festival in one of Denver’s prized historic parks. The show takes place on the southwest roads of Cheesman, where patrons can shop the works of potters, painters, jewelers, sculptors, glass artists, and more – in a wide range of prices! 

Opera in the Park Boulder (Through August 8th)

“Join us for Opera in the Park 2025: Bella Voce, a magical open-air concert celebrating the grandeur of Italian opera and the brilliance of American classics.” Located at Boulder Bandshell.

Sculpture in the Park (August 8th – 10th)

“The Loveland High Plains Arts Council invites you to join us for the 41st Sculpture in the Park Show and Sale. Mark your calendars for another beautiful occasion at Benson Sculpture Garden.”

Affordable Art Fest (August 24th)

“Artwork worth thousands of dollars is priced at $150 (or less), as over 160 renowned artists from across the nation attend the festival every year.”

Little Dry Creek Plaza installation (Through October)

Colorful outdoor installation created by Cal Duran, Val Ponce  and Sammiotzi Hutch-Ouranos

Oracle at Union Hall (Through July 26th)

“Oracle is an experiential exhibition that positions art as a vehicle for introspection and guidance. Rather than simply viewing the work, visitors are invited to engage with them as oracular tools, asking questions, seeking insight and exploring personal meaning. Oracle brings together six, female, Colorado-based artists: Yazz Atmore, Faatma Be Oné, Linda Bishara, Rebecca Peebles, Sarah Tenney and Harriet Woodman, whose work reflects their personal spiritual and creative journeys.”

Melissa Furness at K Contemporary Gallery (Through August 24th. Artist roundtable discussion August 9th)

“Conceptual artist and painter Melissa Furness explores a mistranslated past embedded in the present, drawing from experiences of place and site in the tradition of painting and narrative. Treating painting as a conceptual object, her work examines distortions of history, questioning what is revered and remembered versus what is discarded and forgotten. Her work highlights narratives shaped by power structures and the individual — what is presented as truth versus the realities of lived personal and local histories. Throughout her work, she depicts the struggle affected by history, expressed in ways that respond to the contemporary present.”

Nightburn at Leon Gallery (Through July 26th)

“Nightburn is an embodied myth moving through mountains and memory. In this work, Daphne Sweet merges western iconography with goddess myths and feminine power, blurring the line between human, land, and legend.”

Blue on You at Lane Meyer Projects (Through August 18th)

Exhibit by Rick C Riggins in memory of his mother.