To the Graduate Students in the Visual Arts Department

We respectfully recognize that 48,000 Academic Workers across the University of California -- Academic Student Employees, Academic Researchers, Postdoctoral Scholars, and Student Researchers -- are negotiating new contracts with the UC. 

The UC San Diego Department of Visual Arts faculty stand in solidarity with all our academic workers, including our teaching assistants, readers, and tutors, represented by the UAW (United Auto Workers) in their contract negotiations. We acknowledge the recent historic academic workers strike authorization vote in which 36,558 total votes were cast with 98% in favor of authorizing a multi-unit strike, which will begin on November 14th if a contract agreement is not reached.

We recognize that Visual Arts graduate students will be involved in this strike action. 

We, the undersigned Faculty in Visual Arts, are in solidarity with UC’s Academic Workers represented by United Auto Workers in their fight for equitable contracts. We will not retaliate against striking students and other workers (including temporary and visiting faculty, regular faculty, and staff) acting in solidarity with the strike. In sympathy with strike demands, we will avoid crossing picket lines by measures such as considering teaching alternatives such as deferring classes to asynchronous recordings and/or off-campus or canceled meetings without expectation of TA participation.

Signed,

Ricardo Dominguez, Associate Professor
Lisa Cartwright, Professor, PhD Faculty Director
Paul Sepuya, Associate Professor, MFA Faculty Director
Lorena Mostajo, Assistant Professor
Mehmet Akten, Assistant Professor
Babette Mangolte, Professor
Jordan Rose, Assistant Professor
Michael Trigilio, Teaching Professor
Malik Gaines, Associate Professor
Mariah Garnett, Assistant Professor
Mariana Wardwell, Associate Professor
Brian Cross, Associate Professor
Danielle Dean, Assistant Professor
Grant Kester, Professor
Alexandro Segade, Assistant Professor
Nicole Miller, Associate Professor
Alena Williams, Assistant Professor
Amy Adler, Professor
Anya Gallaccio, Professor
Joshua Tonies, Lecturer
Janelle Iglesias, Assistant Professor
Teddy Cruz, Professor
Dean Erdmann, Assistant Professor
Amy Alexander, Professor
Elizabeth Newsome, Associate Professor
Dmitri Zurita, Lecturer
Rubén Ortiz-Torres, Professor
Benjamin Bratton, Professor
Monique van Genderen, Professor
Mara De Luca, Lecturer
Jessica D'Elena-Tweed, Lecturer
John Welchman, Distinguished Professor
William Camargo, Lecturer
Kuiyi Shen, Professor
Kyong Park, Professor
Yue Nakayama, Lecturer
Casey Kauffman, Lecturer