Petition grows for art strike on Inauguration Day

NEW YORK (FOX 5 NY) - Museums, galleries, concert halls, art schools and non-profit institutions are being urged to close by fellow artists on Friday, Jan. 20, in protest of the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

The petition for the J20 Art Strike reads, in part:

"We consider Art Strike to be one tactic among others to combat the normalization of Trumpism—a toxic mix of white supremacy, misogyny, xenophobia, militarism, and oligarchic rule. Like any tactic, it is not an end in itself, but rather an intervention that will ramify into the future. It is not a strike against art, theater, or any other cultural form. It is an invitation to motivate these activities anew, to reimagine these spaces as places where resistant forms of thinking, seeing, feeling, and acting can be produced."

More than 130 artists including Cindy Sherman, Richard Serra, Louise Lawler, Joan Jonas and Julie Mehretu have added their names to the list.

According to the NY Times, many institutions are still considering whether or not to open. The Museum of Modern Art and MOMA PS1 have pledged to keep regular business hours.

"However you choose to respond to this call, Art Strike is an occasion for public accountability, an opportunity to affirm and enact the values that our cultural institutions claim to embody," reads the J20 petition.

Many remain divided over the election of Trump to the White House.

Large protests are expected to greet Trump when he officially arrives in Washington.