Immigrants stand up for each other in this painting by Mint’s Dayana Juarez. 
Women stand together for justice and their rights. Painting by Mint’s 
Justice may be found in new homes for refugees, including Freedom House Detroit. Generosity painting by Jessica Fligger. 
This beautiful Justice painting by Mint’s Skyy Campbell will be in the Justice and Joy exhibit at Gallery 100 in Chelsea.
Justice doesn’t always carry scales. She doesn’t wave a sign at passing cars or wield a gavel. She may not be loud, like the protesters at recent rallies, or angry, like the crowds and Black Lives Matter protests following George Floyd’s killing by police.
Sometimes justice shows up in a nonprofit conference room, where Detroiters learn to clean up their records and restore their drivers licenses or clear long-ago criminal record. Sometimes it shows up in a Chelsea art gallery, in youth paintings depicting immigrants and women speaking up for their rights. Or in a beautifully sketched protest sign reminding the world of the importance of children or peace.
Mint Artists Guild has created social justice paintings for years, almost since we started as a nonprofit, through our Paint Detroit with Generosity initiative and to reflect the times we live in. Justice showed up in our traveling Heroes: Now and Then exhibit and in our Justice and Joy show, which we hope to expand and exhibit again in 2026.
We’ve been supported by the Buck Dinner to give paintings to an array of justice nonprofits, including Freedom House Detroit, Sugar Law Center, Detroiters for Environmental Justice and more
Then last year, we connected with The Detroit Justice Center, and we admired their artist in residence initiative and other legal work on defending Detroiters, building a more just and equitable future and envisioning a shifted narrative. They call this “defense, offense and dreaming” of liberation and collaboration.
“At the Detroit Justice Center, we believe that art is essential to the pursuit of justice. Artists help us imagine new futures that are rooted in care, liberation, and community power,” said Nancy A. Parker, executive director of The Detroit Justice Center. “The Paint Detroit with Generosity cards are a beautiful extension of that work, spreading hope and connection in simple but powerful ways. We’re grateful for this collaboration with Mint Artists Guild and excited to keep building in ways that uplift creativity and justice.” Â
Their Generosity painting by Mint’s Moumita Chawdhury shows a beautiful bird escaping a cage and flying free. It was applauded again and again while on display at The Skillman Foundation.
The image was so striking that we knew it belonged in our art card collection. And we wanted to partner with Detroit Justice Center to highlight their mission – and share the beautiful card with their donors, clients and allies. “We’re grateful for this collaboration with Mint Artists Guild and excited to keep building in ways that uplift creativity and justice,” Parker said in a statement.
The Justice Bird card is available now from Mint, and we continue to see justice in art as part of our flight.
© Vickie Elmer, 2025 for Mint Artists Guild. Paintings © Mint Artists Guild
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