Anti-ICE and politically engaged works were popular at the State Fair Crop Art show, pictured August 28, 2026. Credit: Aaron Nesheim | Sahan Journal

Minnesota’s response to Operation Metro Surge was a key theme in this year’s State Fair crop art, which attracted a record 594 submissions.

Images of loons and ducks cracking ice, and references to ordinary people witnessing or resisting the actions of federal agents recurred in several pieces. 

One piece showed St. Paul resident ChongLy Thao, who was taken from his house by federal agents on a frigid January day with a blanket draped over his shoulders. 

Another standout piece was Jennifer Nelson’s reimaging of Pablo Picasso’s haunting anti-war piece “Guernica,” with the iconic Rebel Loon at the center, and images of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were killed by immigration agents.

Other works highlighted the richness that immigrants bring to Minnesota, such as Dana Fontaine’s artwork showing seven immigrants, one with his fist raised in the air, with the text: “We the people are all immigrants.”

“Regardless of whether someone is indigenous, immigrated by choice, was forcibly enslaved, or came as a refugee, we’re all part of this same community and human story,” Fontaine said in a slideshow of this year’s immigration-related art.

A piece by Joel Alter features an image of St. Paul resident ChongLy Thao as he is detained by ICE, displayed at the State Fair. Credit: Aaron Nesheim|Sahan Journal
Anti-ICE and politically engaged works were popular at the State Fair Crop Art show, pictured August 28, 2026. Credit: Aaron Nesheim|Sahan Journal
A present-day reimagining of Pablo Picasso’s “Guernica,” by Jennifer Nelson. Credit: Aaron Nesheim|Sahan Journal
Anti-ICE and politically engaged works were popular at the State Fair Crop Art show, pictured August 28, 2026. Credit: Aaron Nesheim|Sahan Journal
Rebel Loons were featured multiple times throughout the crop art exhibit, including this piece by Ashley McDonough. Credit: Aaron Nesheim|Sahan Journal
Anti-ICE and politically engaged works were popular at the State Fair Crop Art show, pictured August 28, 2026. Credit: Aaron Nesheim|Sahan Journal
Images of loons, the Minnesota flag, and a kimono in two side-by-side pieces in the State Fair crop art show. Credit: Aaron Nesheim|Sahan Journal
The line for the crop art exhibit at the Minnesota State Fair stretched around the Horticulture Building on Friday, Aug. 28, 2026, with hundreds waiting to get in. Credit: Aaron Nesheim|Sahan Journal

Aaron Nesheim is a photojournalist at Sahan Journal. Prior to joining Sahan Journal he documented the police killings of George Floyd and Daunte Wright and subsequent trials of Derek Chauvin and Kim Potter...