For Freedoms

For Freedoms
Name	For Freedoms
Formation	2016
Founders	Hank Willis Thomas; Eric Gottesman; Michelle Woo; Wyatt Gallery
Location	United States
Fields	Art, Activism, Civic Engagement, Public Art

For Freedoms is an artist-led platform and creative collective founded in 2016 by Hank Willis Thomas, Eric Gottesman, Michelle Woo, and Wyatt Gallery. The organization uses public art, exhibitions, and civic campaigns to engage audiences around political participation, cultural representation, and civic discourse, operating at the intersection of contemporary art, electoral participation, and public policy debates. For Freedoms has organized national billboard campaigns, gallery exhibitions, and civic events that have involved artists, institutions, and media partners across the United States and internationally.

History

For Freedoms was established in 2016 in the aftermath of the 2016 United States presidential election during a period of intensified public discourse involving figures and institutions such as Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, Barack Obama, Bernie Sanders, Steve Bannon, and Kellyanne Conway. Early activity included collaborations with museums and galleries like the Museum of Modern Art (New York City), Brooklyn Museum, National Museum of African American History and Culture, and regional entities such as the Walker Art Center, New Museum, and California African American Museum. The collective's founding coincided with cultural moments including the Black Lives Matter movement, protests at the Dakota Access Pipeline, and debates over media coverage by outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Fox News. As For Freedoms expanded, it engaged networks of artists and institutions including Ai Weiwei, Kara Walker, Nan Goldin, Kehinde Wiley, Jenny Holzer, Titus Kaphar, Theaster Gates, Carrie Mae Weems, and organizations such as the National Endowment for the Arts, Ford Foundation, and Knight Foundation.

Mission and Activities

The stated mission centers on increasing civic participation and facilitating dialogues through visual culture, partnering with arts institutions, museums, and media organizations including PBS, ABC News, NBC News, CNN, and arts presses like Aperture and Artforum. Activities include nationwide billboard projects, voter engagement initiatives tied to elections such as the 2018 United States elections, 2020 United States presidential election, and local primaries, public programming in collaboration with institutions like the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, High Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, and community-based activations with organizations such as Color Of Change and United We Dream. For Freedoms frames campaigns around civic themes resonant with legal and political milestones involving entities like the Supreme Court of the United States, statutes debated in the United States Congress, and policy debates referenced in coverage by ProPublica.

Notable Projects and Campaigns

Notable initiatives include the National Billboards campaign, exhibitions that traveled to venues including the Studio Museum in Harlem, Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Cleveland Museum of Art, and civic engagement programs during the 2018 midterm elections and the 2020 census. Collaborations have produced projects featuring artists such as Nan Goldin, Ai Weiwei, Kehinde Wiley, Jenny Holzer, and Shepard Fairey; media partners have included The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Vogue, and The Atlantic. For Freedoms has produced town-hall-style events alongside civic groups such as League of Women Voters, Rock the Vote, and When We All Vote, and has partnered with festivals and institutions like SXSW, Frieze Art Fair, and Art Basel Miami Beach. Campaigns have been documented in coverage by outlets including The New York Times, NPR, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, and BBC News.

Organizational Structure and Leadership

The collective was co-founded by artists and producers including Hank Willis Thomas, Eric Gottesman, Michelle Woo, and Wyatt Gallery, with leadership that has drawn on curators, producers, and advisors from institutions such as the Museum of Contemporary Art (Los Angeles), Tate Modern, Smithsonian Institution, and university programs at Harvard University, Yale University, New York University, and University of California, Los Angeles. Governance has combined artist-led decision making with partnerships involving foundations like the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and philanthropic entities active in arts funding such as Open Society Foundations. Project teams have included curators, strategists, and organizers who previously worked at organizations including Creative Time, Protest Art Collective, and municipal public art programs in cities like New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta.

Collaborations and Partnerships

For Freedoms has partnered with museums, media organizations, civic groups, and academic institutions such as Tate Modern, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Walker Art Center, Columbia University, Princeton University, Stanford University, and arts organizations including Creative Time, ZERO1, Theaster Gates's Rebuild Foundation, and National Public Radio. Corporate and philanthropic partners have included foundations and media outlets such as The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Knight Foundation, Ford Foundation, Google Arts & Culture, and campaign partners like Rock the Vote, League of Women Voters, and local election boards in states like Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.

Criticism and Controversies

Critiques have focused on questions of neutrality, institutional partnerships, and the entanglement of art practice with partisan debates, drawing commentary from critics and commentators associated with publications like Artforum, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The New York Times. Debates have referenced tensions similar to controversies involving artists such as Ai Weiwei and institutions like the Whitney Museum, discussions around corporate sponsorship as in controversies at Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and funding debates involving National Endowment for the Arts grants, and disputes over public messaging reminiscent of public art controversies in cities including Chicago, San Francisco, and Philadelphia. Questions have also been raised about impact measurement related to voter turnout work, with analyses appearing alongside civic research from organizations such as Pew Research Center and Brennan Center for Justice.

Category:Arts organizations Category:Political art Category:Civic engagement organizations