An activist group known as Art Space Sanctuary is calling for the MoMA and museum trustee Larry Fink to cut all investments connected to private prisons in the US.

As reported by Art News, a petition details that the group is “ask(ing) MoMA and its board member Larry Fink to divest from private prison companies, divest from dehumanisation”. Fink is CEO of Blackrock, a major shareholder in private prison companies Core Civic and GEO Group. Between these companies, there is over $2 billion in contracts with ICE – a previous investigation by the Intercept found that together, both are responsible for over 70 per cent of all immigration detention, including families separated at the border. Further, MoMA’s pension fund, Fidelity, is also one of the largest owners of private prison stocks.

The Intercept report detailed that detainees in CoreCivic detention centres were left without air conditioning throughout the summer, and were denied medical care. The GEO Group and CoreCivic continue to see their stocks soar as immigration detention expands and Trump’s anti-immigrant policies press on,

The group is asking that the MoMA board and Fink meet with them, as well as community leaders, immigrant rights organisations, and detainees to learn more about private prisons and their systems.

Fink previously came under fire for acting as an advisor to the Trump administration back in 2017. Protesters marched into the MoMA to demand he was removed from the board. A statement from Occupy Museums said at the time: “There is a long history of activism at MoMA. In fact, tonight’s free museum entrance was brought to you by the Art Worker’s coalition protests decades ago. So in this tradition, we are calling for MoMA to change its behaviour.

“No More Normalising Trump. We are calling for Larry Fink to be kicked off the board as a sign to your public that you care for our values of human dignity.”

Fink later resigned from the Trump admin forum.

Last week, Hyperallergic reported on the Art Space Sanctuary and collectives Decolonize This Place and CODEPINK demonstration at the MoMA’s David Rockefeller Awards Luncheon, where the institution was honouring Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan. The groups claim that Moynihan also has stakes in US private prisons. Protesters chanted “there is blood on this art” during the disruption.

According to Art News, more protests are planned, but the group declined to provide any further details.