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On independence day weekend my friend Thomas and I drove down to Alligator Alcatraz, to record the protests happening there, as urban sketchers and visual reporters. We also thought it was the most appropriate way to observe U.S. independence day this year, by highlighting the loss of freedom many are experiencing today. It was a failed attempt. Thomas completed a sketch from the reference materials we gathered and wrote about it in his blog. I was prompted to go back after reading a letter written by the Florida Division of Emergency Management, circulated on social media the following Thursday. The agency invited Florida state legislators and members of congress to visit the location after being denied entrance the week prior. This denial was an illegal act towards said officials, which resulted in legal action against governor DeSantis and caused said invitation.
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| Letter circulated on social media. July 10, 2025. |
As a law abiding naturalized citizen, I was surprised by the fear I felt driving back to this place. The thought of being a Latina amongst demonstrators concerned me, as I remembered recent headlines of detainment practices by ICE agents. However, above all, I am an artist, which means I must be courageous and true to myself no matter what, so my work remains honest. I put my fears aside and got ready to observe and absorb. This time we arrived Saturday morning, when people congregated under a press tent set up on the south side of the road, listening to congressman Maxwell Alejandro Frost of Florida’s 10th district. I moved away from the press tent once Thomas set up to sketch and headed to the side of the road instead, facing North towards the entrance. BooBoo, my loyal canine companion, sat on my lap taking advantage of the shade my wide umbrella provided. I eventually moved him to rest under the shade on the ground, where he laid on the cool, damp earth, leashed next to me, after drinking some water.
Reporters circled us shortly after I started working. They asked about my involvement and personal opinion about Alligator Alcatraz: Are you a Meekosukee indian? (because you look like you could be one). Do you have any relatives incarcerated here? What’s your dog’s name? Why are you here? Does the dog have water? What do you think of this detention center being so close to indigenous land? Where are you from? What do you think of the Major of Miami not being able to visit? I answered their questions the best I could, informed by my experience in Big Cypress National Preserve as a thru-hiker of the FNST, a research artist and author of my thesis titled, Evolving Perceptions of Self and Others: The Effects of Communing with Nature While Thru Hiking the Florida National Scenic Trail. It is here that I discuss the importance of respecting Nature as an entity, working with indigenous people as stewards of the land, and healing through Nature.
Honestly, there were so many reporters that I could not keep their agencies straight. I talked to a reporter from Univision Digital in Spanish, the Miami Herald, a newspaper from Tampa and another from Boca Raton, to name a few. Reporters, camera men and photographers seemed to outnumber demonstrators at times, and caught up to the representatives as they arrived in black SUV’s. I was talking to a reporter from Tampa as I worked when he showed me a rusty nail, about three inches long. He and others found a number of them off the shoulder of the road, where demonstrators park their cars. I was surprised by the malice of this action, so I drew a number of nails floating in the lower half of my sketch.
This was a difficult location to sketch for three reasons: a) Answering questions by the media made it difficult to concentrate and work quickly. b) Even sitting under my double layered, oversized umbrella, the heat was distracting. Sweat ran down my face and arms constantly, making it challenging to hold my tools and metal umbrella shaft without slipping. c) Unbeknownst to me, fountain pens leak at the nib under heat, due to the expansion of air inside the pen and the thinning of the ink. High humidity also affects the pen’s internal seals increasing leakage. In short, since it was both hot and humid, my loved fountain pen had a major temper tantrum. Lesson learned: Always carry a Micron pen when sketching in hot, humid weather.
Demonstrators for both sides of the issue stood next to each other, held their signs, were interviewed or photographed, waved at drivers passing by and minded their own business. The overall atmosphere was serene, occasionally disrupted by loud, encouraging honks from cars. Drivers slowed down to read signs. Co-pilots filmed or snapped photos, and some people traveling alone held their phones on their steering wheel as they drove, filming the protestors on both sides of the road. Some people stuck their head and hands out the window giving thumbs up, clapping or shouting “Thank you, Thank you for being here!” as they passed, while others whooped and pumped a fist on tempo to their shouting of “Trump, Trump, Trump!”. At one point a family of three appeared and stood under the sign to the facility. Mom and dad took turns waving an oversized Betsy Ross flag with the numbers 1776 printed in yellow in the middle of the circle of stars, against the dark blue background. The daughter, in her early teens, held a flag that said Trump! Make America Great Again! with her arms opened wide. She wrapped the flag around herself when her arms tired. The three of them adopted serious countenances and heroic poses for the cameras on command from the moment they appeared, as they were engulfed by reporters on the hot asphalt.
As noon approached, the heat intensified. Although it had been almost two hours, I was far from finishing my sketch due to the interruptions. I took the closing On location photo at this point, when I decided to end the session and finish the work later. I packed up and set my belongings aside, carried Boo on one arm and maneuvered the umbrella between my shoulder and him as I crossed the road, cell phone in hand, towards the North side to photograph signs. Thomas waited under a shady tree there. Everyone was kind when I asked for a photo, regardless of their political stand.
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| On Location |
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