Aaron Hughes
Chicago, IL
Aaron Hughes is an artist, curator, organizer, teacher, anti-war activist, and Iraq War veteran. He works collaboratively in diverse spaces and media to create meaning out of personal and collective trauma, deconstruct and transform systems of oppression, and seek liberation. Working through an interdisciplinary practice rooted in drawing and printmaking, Hughes develops projects that deconstruct militarism and related institutions of dehumanization. These projects often utilize popular research strategies, experiment with forms of direct democracy, and operate in solidarity with the people most impacted by structural violence. In addition to his work with Justseeds, Hughes works with a range of art and activist projects including About Face: Veterans Against the War (formerly Iraq Veterans Against the War), Warrior Writers, emerging Veteran Art Movement, and Prison + Neighborhood Arts/Education Project.
Other Media
Artist Interests
AnarchismAnti-capitalismAnti-warEcology & AnimalsEducationEnvironment & ClimateFeminisms & GenderGlobal SolidarityHealthHistoryIndigenous ResistanceLaborMigrationPolice & PrisonsRacial JusticeSocial Movements Associated Projects
2023 Community Supported Art | Grounding: Intertwined with the More-Than-Human World & IVAW: Operation Recovery / Operation Exposure
Building Power, Building Resistance
$20
Muhammad Ali Resisted. You Can Too.
$25
Toward Radical Futures + Be the Change! Coloring Book Bundle
Justseeds Collaboration
Out of Stock
Toward Radical Futures: a Justseeds Coloring Book
Justseeds Collaboration
$15
Poetry Despite/Music Despite (Eternal War Requiem) Double Vinyl Record
$45
Global Climate Strike
$25
A Bird Knows No Barbed Wire
$40
Global War on/of Terror
$15
We Are The Street Kids of Kabul. We Are Survivors.
$45
Take Down the Drones
$22
Shell Casing in the Human Heart
$22
DE-MIL-I-TA-RISE & End Grain
$30
Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
Justseeds Collaboration
$300
War Is Trauma
Justseeds Collaboration
$300
TRANSFORM (Butterfly)
$40
Celebrate People’s History: Iraq Veterans Against the War Broadsheet
Justseeds Collaboration
$12
Free Captive Art from Guantánamo
October 17, 2022
Eight Guantánamo survivors, in solidarity with the men who are still extralegally imprisoned there, have written an open letter (below) to President Biden calling for an end to a Trump-era…
New “Remaking the Exceptional” Podcast Launch Marks 20 Years of Torture at GITMO
January 11, 2022
Today, marks the 20 years since the US opened the extralegal military prison and torture facility at Guantánamo. As many of you know this is an issue that has been…
The new podcast Getting Into Step
June 4, 2021
The Kairos Center and the NYS Poor People’s Campaign, recently launched the pilot episode of our new podcast, Getting Into Step. The podcast is dedicated to illuminating the times in which we…
The time for Justice for Tamir Rice is now!
June 4, 2021
Tamir’s Campaign for Justice is a solidarity campaign with Samaria Rice focused on obtaining justice for Tamir Rice, her 12-year-old son who was fatally shot by Cleveland police in 2014….
Abolish Militarism
May 11, 2021
Celebrate the launch of DE-MIL-I-TA-RISE, Justseeds’ newest art portfolio and booklet in collaboration with the powerful movement organization Dissenters, by supporting their important anti-militarism organizing trainings and anti-militarist campaigns! Contribute…
Justseeds releases new DE-MIL-I-TA-RISE Portfolio & Booklet
May 1, 2021
This May Day, in partnership with the Dissenters, Justseeds released the new DE-MIL-I-TA-RISE portfolio and booklet during an Art Against Empire launch event. The Dissenters is a movement organization leading a…
We Are Not Disposable: Food Workers Organizing on the COVID Frontlines
March 1, 2021
“We went on strike because the company didn’t care to give us basic protections, and kept exposing us to get sick or die. For weeks we demanded the company to…
The COVID Jungle
January 19, 2021
Food workers are essential workers! The COVID Jungle: Chicagoland’s Essential Food Workers and the Need for Vaccination Priority a new report released by the Chicago based Warehouse Workers for Justice…
Raise It Up! CPG for South Side Community Art Center
December 14, 2020
The Chicago Printers Guild is rallying its members and community to support the efforts and contributions that the Southside Community Art Center continues to make in the Bronzeville Neighborhood and…
Carving Out Rights from Inside the Prison Industrial Complex
November 24, 2020
I am extremely excited to share Carving Out Rights from Inside the Prison Industrial Complex, a book I have been working on with Tara Betts, Sarah Ross, and the Prison…
Autonomous Democracy
November 16, 2020
I am excited to announce, Autonomous Democracy, a new project focused on exploring the history of experiments in direct democracy within freedom movements. Over the course of the next year,…
DE-MIL-I-TA-RISE Portfolio Prerelease Fundraiser For Dissenters
September 26, 2020
In collaboration with the powerful emerging youth movement organization Dissenters, Justseeds is excited to announce the forthcoming DE-MIL-I-TA-RISE portfolio. Dissenters is leading a new generation of young people to reclaim…
Poetry Despite/Music Despite (Eternal War Requiem) on Lumpen Radio
September 16, 2020
LUMPEN RADIO | SPECIAL PROGRAMS9AM & 3PM Central Time | Friday, September 18, 2020Poetry Despite/Music Despite (Eternal War Requiem) Friday, September 18th at 9AM and 3PM (Central Time), Lumpen Radio will…
We Are Called to Be a Movement
September 9, 2020
We Are Called to Be A Movement by Rev. Dr. William J. Barber This summer Rev. Dr. William Barber of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call For Moral Revival…
“Chicago Artists Fuel the Movement for Prison Abolition”
August 26, 2020
New Justseeds members Nicole Marroquin and Monica Trinidad were recently featured with other activist artists in a Hyperallergic article by Claire Wang about their powerful work supporting the abolitionist movement…
Where We Are Now
June 8, 2020
The PO BOX is a creative collective and intergenerational social practice center dedicated to building the Rogers Park community in Chicago through radical art making and programming. They “embrace a…
Amid Minneapolis Uprising, Anti-War Veterans Call On National Guard to Stand Down
May 30, 2020
As a National Guard veteran I am honored to be apart of About Face: Veterans Against the War which through the following open letter is calling on the Minnesota National…
Art for the Warehouse Workers for Justice & Earth Day to May Day Chicago Coalition
May 20, 2020
Aaron Hughes, Justice, 2020 The Earth Day to May Day Chicago coalition formed to unite labor, immigrant, community, and environmental justice organizations during the current public health, economic, and environmental…
Veteran Art Movement Joins Iraqi Artists
May 9, 2020
Earlier this year the emerging Veteran Art Movement joined Iraqi artists featured in the “Theater of Operations” exhibition at MoMA PS1 in calling on MoMA board members to divest from…
Reflecting on the Let Our People Go: Week of Action
May 6, 2020
From April 13th to 17th the Illinois Coalition for Higher Education in Prison (IL-CHEP) hosted the Let Our People Go: Week of Action. One of the IL-CHEP coalition partners is…
DE-MIL-I-TA-RISE
Solidarity with Alabama Amazon Workers
We Are Not Disposable: Food Workers Organizing on the COVID Frontlines
Stop Line 3 Care Package
Justseeds Collaboration
Size: 65.85 MB
Format: PDF, JPG, & PNG
Warehouse Workers for Justice: COVID Jungle
Manifest Real Democracy Wisconsin
The People Shall Rule
Troops Stand Down For Black Lives
Troops Stand Down For Black Lives
Muhammad Ali Resisted. You Can Too.
Warehouse Workers for Justice: Earth Day to May Day (Day 10)
Warehouse Workers for Justice: Earth Day to May Day (Day 9)
Warehouse Workers for Justice: Earth Day to May Day (Day 8)
Warehouse Workers for Justice: Earth Day to May Day (Day 7)
Warehouse Workers for Justice: Earth Day to May Day (Day 6)
Warehouse Workers for Justice: Earth Day to May Day (Day 5)
Warehouse Workers for Justice: Earth Day to May Day (Day 4)
Warehouse Workers for Justice: Earth Day to May Day (Day 3)
Warehouse Workers for Justice: Earth Day to May Day (Day 2)
Warehouse Workers for Justice: Earth Day to May Day (Day 1)
#PeopleNotPolluters
Justseeds Collaboration
Size: 35.03 MB
Format: Various
Free Stateville Now
Give Me Freedom or Give Me Death
Getting Into Step
Wellspring Portfolio
Justseeds Collaboration
Size: 53.41 MB
Format: JPG
As Long As the Grass Shall Grow & the Rivers Shall Flow
Winds of Change
We Support War Resisters
We Are Public Workers Too
Shut Down the War Machine
Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops
Lisa Morris Memorial
IVAW Field Organizing Team
Nick Morgan at the Presidential Debate
Operation Recovery
Justseeds Collaboration
Size: 9.90 MB
Format: PDF zine
Winter Soldier
DE-MIL-I-TA-RISE Booklet
Justseeds Collaboration
Out of Stock
DE-MIL-I-TA-RISE Portfolio
Justseeds Collaboration
Out of Stock
Building Power, Building Resistance
Out of Stock
We Are All In This Together: exhibition catalog
Justseeds Collaboration
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Learn As We Lead
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Solidaridad Sin Fronteras
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Solidarity
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Water is Life
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Water is Life
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Welcome Home
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Muhammad Ali
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As Long As the Grass Shall Grow & the Rivers Shall Flow
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Welcome Home (Four Times)
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REVOLT
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Wellspring
Justseeds Collaboration
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End Grain (Red to Yellow)
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A Bird Knows No Barbed Wire
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DE•MIL•I•TA•RISE
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