Díaz Lewis

Based in Chicago, the duo Alejandro Figueredo Díaz-Perera and Cara Megan Lewis make art together to prompt social change. In Díaz-Perera’s words, “Art can go places where other platforms cannot.” Alarmed by the congressional mandate that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) maintain a “bed quota” of 34,000 detained immigrants per day in its facilities, Díaz Lewis set out to make a pillow for each bed. Continuing the project they began in Chicago last January, the artists construct pillows from clothing donated by undocumented immigrants, former detainees, and their allies to form a collective patchwork of individual experiences. The pillows’ comfort and support are not purely symbolic: the artists are selling each handcrafted object for a donation of $159 — the government’s daily cost for detaining an immigrant — to Human Rights Watch, an organization that provides alternatives to the bed mandate and detention centers, and restores human dignity to former detainees.

Visitors are welcome to participate in the pillow-making; please inquire with an on-site exhibition Art Guide for details.

To make a donation and secure a pillow, simply go to the Human Rights Watch website and follow the instructions for making a donation. Under “tribute type,” select “in honor of” and enter “34,000 Pillows.” Take your electronic receipt to an on-site exhibition Art Guide to collect your pillow.