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Anonymous artist: South side of Chicago

In 2017, before we had signed the lease on our first storefront location on 1112 N. Ashland Ave., the twelve members of the newly formed artist collective were seated around Larry Kamphausen's dining room table. Larry and Gretchen Hasse had made the original call for potential collective founding members. We were debating what we should call ourselves.

True to form, I was listing references to alchemy in Medieval Latin I'm a smart ass. We were all coming up with pretty random stuff. Fred Nitch, another founding member suggested, "Agitator." The room went silent. We all stared at each other, dumbfounded save for Fred who was aghast. His pleas of, "I'm kidding. Really! " were useless."

Eleven of the twelve of us plainly knew this was the only choice. With some misgivings, Fred agreed as well.

The name has been a standard to live up to repeatedly over the nine years of our existence.

I'm grateful to the twelve original members who so readily embraced the name, Agitator. I'm grateful to the subsequent members, past and present for working steadtastly to build and preserve an entity that's bigger and more ambitious and more meaningful than any one of us alone could have made. I'm grateful for those who have shown with Agitator, done gigs at Agitator, and just supported us over the years.

Agitator has been a source of headaches and real angst. It's also in every real sense, saved my life.

To the members of Agitator, our friends and allies, and the artists who are contributing to Stand and Bear Witness, please know you have my deepest gratitude and very real admiration for taking this collective stand with us.

Thank you for fearlessly allowing Agitator to be the bullhorn, the platform, the communal voice, standing against injustice and tyranny.

We bear witness to our stories, to our shared truths, and to any hope for tomorrow.

-Luna Rail,

Stand and Bear Witness curator

Agitator Artist’s Co-operative member

Christopher Vaughn

Photography of people striving to make a difference.

Jane Thorn

~ a painting of a picture taken by an unknown photographer of an ICE agent pointing his firearm at the photographer.

Debra Rodriguez

People of color menaced by an ICE agent.