Chip Thomas: The Good Fight

CHIP THOMAS AKA JETSONORAMA
Can you tell me about your recent
installation in the Arrowhead
Village and how that started?
My interest in the situation started
a few years ago when I heard that
Northern Arizona University was
trying to buy the property where
the trailer park is, which is zoned
for low-rent housing. The university
wanted to develop the area to build
more student housing. I don’t know
the series of legal maneuvers that
happened to prevent the university
from getting that land, but I think
a different person purchased it and
decided he wanted to get it rezoned.
The new owner gave the residents
of this community six months to
vacate the premises. Apparently
they were given an extension of
another two months, and during
this time an activist group in Flagstaff
called Repeal Coalition was
working with residents to attempt
to block the sale and rezoning.
With those efforts failing, they
went to the city council and asked
its members to make money available
to residents to help with their
relocation. The problem is, many
of the people living in this community
are undocumented and
don’t have the necessary paperwork
to receive a large cash payout.
As an alternative, Repeal Coalition
has been hosting fundraisers
so they can pay people cash, and
they approached me with the idea
of doing an unveiling as an opportunity
to raise awareness about
the issue, but also attempt to raise
money for some of the families.
The images you’ve been posting
are so moving. Besides being
beautiful photographs, what
makes them particularly affecting
is the fact that you’re putting the
interiors of these structures - the
people who live there and their
stories - on the exteriors, so that
they confront the people who
are trying to evict this tight-knit
community. You force viewers to
at least acknowledge the humanity
they could otherwise ignore.
I think you nailed it. My goal is to
convey a sense of the community
and humanity of the people who
were in this space, and who are frequently
overlooked. The entire time
I was installing work, I was saying
to the tenants and to anyone who
stopped by that I just wish there was
something more that we could do
something more than just show the
people who are here. I don’t think
there’s anything more that can be
done at this point in terms of stopping
the process; it’s already well underway.
But, ultimately, if people are
touched by the stories, then perhaps
if a situation like this comes around
again, more people will be involved
at the city council level to oppose
the dissolution of the community.
I would like to see people just
appreciate our shared humanity
and think about each other
a little bit differently.
Another thing I wanted to talk to
you about is your widely varied
interests. You’re an artist and a
physician; you cycled from the top
to the bottom of the African continent
in nine and a half months.
I got a Guinness world record for
that trip: the fastest crossing of the
African continent lengthwise.
Photo: End of the Encuentro
by Jetsonorama, 2017.
Chip Thomas’ artwork is used
for Border Encuentro by SOA
Watch, a movement working
to: End US economic, military
and political intervention in
Latin America, and ensure
the closure of SOA/WHIN-
SEC; end Plan Merida and
the Alliance for Prosperity;
ensure demilitarization and
divestment of borders; end
the racist systems of oppression
that criminalize and
kill migrants, refugees and
communities of color; and
ensure respect, dignity, justice
and the right to self-determination
of communities.
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