Minneapolis

We Defend the Heart is a processional artwork conceived and created by a group of community artists, under the design-guidance and direction of Christopher Lutter-Gardella, in direct response to the assault waged upon our communities of acceptance and care, by our federal government. When asked: “How do we respond, artistically?” and “What is our responsibility, as artists and social justice workers?” in the face of rising anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ and racist animus marshaled by right-wing, authoritarian elites and their followers, we found ourselves asking more questions: “Why are we angry? Why are we afraid? What are we afraid of losing? What are we trying to protect?”

We Defend the Heart is our artistic answer to these questions, in which we crafted a spectacle-scale beating heart, expressing our communal love for those who are under threat of persecution and, simultaneously, representing our courage in moving together, collectively, into a increasingly uncertain and frightening future. Around the heart, on the float platform, we created a “garden of our humanity”, with flowers and butterflies, and performers acting as garden “tenders”. We also created a sleuth of bears (masked performers) acting as defenders of our “communal heart”, carrying shields, naming the values that we intend on defending: Empathy, Truth, Equality, Love, Need, etc.

This piece debuted in the 2025 May Day Parade and Festival, in South Minneapolis MN, lifting spirits, encouraging courage and acting as a proclamation of our collective intention to defend the values that we hold sacred within our beloved communities and the people that live in them.