The Declaration of Independence asserted a radical idea: that certain rights are inalienable—not granted by governments, not earned by status, not contingent on approval, and not subject to removal. They belong to us simply because we are human.

As we approach the 250th anniversary of that document, the question of what it truly means to hold rights as inalienable feels newly urgent. In this moment—marked by brutal and often unconstitutional immigration enforcement in Minneapolis and across the country—the gap between the ideals articulated in 1776 and the lived experiences of many people in 2026 is impossible to ignore. 

We have never gotten this promise perfect; the history of inalienable rights in the United States is a history of exclusion, struggle, and continual renegotiation. Yet anniversaries are not only moments of celebration—they are invitations to reflect and to recommit. 

Both making and responding to art offer uniquely human ways to slow down, tell the truth, and examine how this ideal has been upheld, denied, or reimagined over time. Engaging creatively with the concept of inalienability now allows us to ask, together, what these rights must mean in practice if they are to belong to all of us in the centuries to come.

DEAR US invites people to make original works of art that respond both to this moment in history and to this foundational concept of inalienability. We envision this art as letters—not sentimental or simplistic, but honest, complex, and courageous—addressed to US: to community, to country, to one another, and to future generations. We hope they will spark even more dialogue.