{{Short description|American political action committee}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox company | name = For Freedoms | logo = | type = | industry = | fate = | predecessor = <!-- or: | predecessors = --> | successor = <!-- or: | successors = --> | founded = 2016 | founders = Hank Willis Thomas, Eric Gottesman, Michelle Woo, and Wyatt Gallery | defunct = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | hq_location_city = New York, New York | hq_location_country = United States | area_served = <!-- or: | areas_served = --> | key_people = | products = | owner = <!-- or: | owners = --> | num_employees = | num_employees_year = <!-- Year of num_employees data (if known) --> | parent = | website = {{url|http://forfreedoms.org}} }}{{Distinguish|Four Freedoms}} '''For Freedoms''' is an artist-run platform for civic engagement, discourse, and direct action for artists in the United States. Co-founded by Hank Willis Thomas, Eric Gottesman, Michelle Woo, and Wyatt Gallery in 2016,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cardwell|first=Erica|date=October 2, 2020|title=For Freedoms's Campaigns to Bring Creativity into Politics Are More Relevant than Ever|url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-freedomss-campaigns-bring-creativity-politics-relevant|access-date=May 17, 2021|website=Artsy}}</ref> For Freedoms has partnered with US-based institutions and artists for activations including town halls, exhibitions and installations, public programs, billboard campaigns, and artist residencies. In June 2018, For Freedoms launched the 50 State Initiative, described as the "largest-ever public art project in the US".<ref>{{cite web|title=Massive Kickstarter campaign launched for 'largest-ever public art project in the US' with billboards across all 50 states|url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/for-freedoms-launches-grassroots-campaign-for-nation-wide-civic-art-project|website=The Art Newspaper|date=June 4, 2018}}</ref>
==History== === Founding ===
Co-founded in 2016 by Hank Willis Thomas, a photographer and conceptual artist, and Eric Gottesman, a visual artist and teacher, Michelle Woo, a cultural producer, and Wyatt Gallery, a photographer. For Freedoms was inspired by Norman Rockwell's paintings of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" wartime address in 1941—a call to safeguard the freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. In January 2016, For Freedoms was registered as the first artist-run political action committee and began raising money for national advertising through the artistic collaboration Postcards from America, a project of Magnum Foundation artists Jim Goldberg, Gilles Peress, and Alec Soth. The Postcards from America photographs, as well as works from Carrie Mae Weems, Rashid Johnson, Xaviera Simmons, Bayeté Ross Smith, Fred Tomaselli, and Marilyn Minter, were exhibited at Jack Shainman Gallery in the summer of 2016.<ref>{{cite news|title=A 'Super PAC' Where Art Meets Politics|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/25/arts/design/a-super-pac-where-art-meets-politics.html|website=The New York Times|date=April 24, 2016|last1=McGee|first1=Celia}}</ref> In July of that year, outside of For Freedoms headquarters, a flag by Dread Scott was added to the show, drawing immense attention. Displayed outside the gallery in Manhattan on the week of the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling, Scott sparked national conversation about police brutality by reinterpreting the early 1900s NAACP flag "A Man Was Lynched Yesterday",<ref>{{cite web|title=A Man Was Lynched Yesterday|url=https://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2015647092/|website=Library of Congress|year=1936}}</ref> updating it to read "A Man Was Lynched By Police Yesterday".<ref>{{cite news|title=Does This Flag Make You Flinch?|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/15/us/artist-flag-protests-lynching-by-police.html?_r=0&referer=https://www.google.com/|website=The New York Times|date = July 14, 2016|last1 = Rogers|first1 = Angelica}}</ref>
===2016 billboard campaign=== For Freedoms released a national billboard campaign a month before Donald Trump's election in October 2016. The organization commissioned artists for billboards in Denver, Colorado; Flint, Michigan; Columbus, Ohio; Lexington, Kentucky; Memphis, Tennessee; Pearl, Mississippi; New Orleans, Louisiana; Tallahassee, Florida; Harrisburg, Pennsylvania; as well as billboards in November in Miami, Florida and Cleveland, Ohio. The billboard in Pearl, Mississippi—which superimposed Donald Trump's campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again" over Spider Martin's image ''Two Minute Warning'' of Bloody Sunday—incited local and national controversy. Then-governor Phil Bryant called the billboard imagery "reprehensible",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story/33739049/billboard-raises-eyebrows-in-rankin-county|title=Pearl billboard removed amid controversy|first=Bob|last=Burks}}</ref> and Pearl mayor Brad Rogers vied to have the billboard taken down, an action which raised questions over First Amendment rights.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mississippi residents unsure of controversial billboard's intent|url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/21/us/mississippi-billboard-make-america-great-again/|publisher=CNN|date=November 21, 2016}}</ref>
===2017 to 2018=== The initiative held residency at MoMA PS1 for the first 100 days of the Trump administration. ''Laboratory for Freedoms''<ref>{{cite web|title=For Freedoms To Begin Residency at PS1|url=http://www.artnews.com/2017/01/17/for-freedoms-to-begin-residency-at-ps1-controversial-make-america-great-again-billboard-goes-up/|website=ARTNews|date=January 17, 2017}}</ref> was an activation space for public meetings, town halls, and performances. That summer, For Freedoms held an artist's workshop for MoMA and curated Aperture Foundation's Summer Open exhibition ''On Freedom''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Exhibition Review: On Freedom at Aperture Gallery|url=http://museemagazine.com/culture/2017/8/2/exhibition-review-on-freedom-at-aperture-gallery|website=Musée|date=August 2, 2017 }}</ref> As well, the group continued doing town halls and billboards in collaboration with Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
In 2017, For Freedoms Federation, LLC was created to engage with educational partners in order to activate the cultural infrastructure of the country in the pursuit of social change. For Freedoms Federation acts as a hub for other artists, arts institutions, and activists who want to be more engaged with the current political system in all of the fifty states and Puerto Rico with the stated aim of making democracy more transparent and responsive. In 2018, all For Freedoms activation began operating under the federation as opposed to the PAC.
===50 State Initiative=== {{unreferenced section|date=June 2019}}
In 2018, For Freedoms launched the 50 State Initiative, the largest creative collaboration in U.S. history. In the fall of 2018, For Freedoms launched a major billboard campaign in every state ahead of the 2016 November midterm congressional election. The project was meant to inspire more people to participate in civic life and broadening the concept of what democratic participation looks like. To realize the hugely ambitious project, For Freedoms partnered with more than 200 American art organizations, from grassroots art centers to major museums, and even international groups and funded the project through Kickstarter. The campaign included over 150 contemporary artists, including Marilyn Minter, Rashid Johnson, Guerrilla Girls, and Theaster Gates, among others.<ref>{{Cite web|date=October 9, 2018|title=Here Are the 150 Artists Making Billboards for Every US State as Part of Hank Willis Thomas's Midterm Election Project|url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/for-freedoms-50-states-initiative-artists-1367275|access-date=April 15, 2021|website=Artnet News}}</ref>
===Four Freedoms photographs===
In October 2018, For Freedoms also launched a photo campaign entitled Four Freedoms. In collaboration with photographers Emily Shur and Wyatt Gallery, Hank Willis Thomas and For Freedoms transformed Norman Rockwell's depictions of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's 1941 address to Congress, which articulated FDR's vision of the four basic human freedoms.<ref name="Holson">{{Cite news |title=Rockwell's America, Reimagined|last=Holson|first=Laura M.|date=November 14, 2018|work=The New York Times}}</ref> Thomas wrote that "The image haunted me because of the world we live in. I wanted to imagine what it would look like today."<ref name="Holson"/> Through dozens of iterations of Rockwell's original four paintings, the 82 images in the campaign attempted to reflect the immeasurable diversity of American identities today. Celebrities such as Rosario Dawson, Dolores Huerta, Gina Belafonte, Van Jones, Jesse Williams, Robert A. Nakamura and Karen L. Ishizuka, Kiran Gandhi, Michael Ealy, Saul Williams, Rodney Barnette, and others were included in the reinterpretations. The new version of the images were widely shared on social media and Instagram, including by celebrities such as Alicia Keys and Jada Pinkett-Smith.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/for-freedoms-rockwell-1384654|title=Rosario Dawson, van Jones, and Others Star in a 21st-Century Remake of Norman Rockwell's Famous "Four Freedoms" Series—See Them Here|date=October 31, 2018}}</ref>
The modernization of the ''Freedom of Worship'' image was featured on the November 26, 2018, cover of ''Time'' magazine along with the question "Who Gets To Be American?"<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Nguyen |first=Viet Thanh |author-link=Viet Thanh Nguyen |date=November 26, 2018 |url=https://time.com/magazine/us/5455477/november-26th-2018-vol-192-no-22-u-s/|title=Who Gets To Be American? |magazine=Time |volume=192 |issue=22 |at=cover |access-date=June 14, 2021}}</ref>
=== 2020 Awakening === In fall 2020, For Freedoms announced the 2020 Awakening campaign<ref>{{Cite web|title=For Freedoms|url=https://forfreedoms.org/|access-date=September 22, 2020|website=forfreedoms.org}}</ref> centered around the new four freedoms of awakening listening, healing, and justice. The campaign, inspired by the 1860s youth-led organization which championed the election of Abraham Lincoln, the Wide Awakes, features billboards as well as digital advertising spaces. Among the artists who planned to participate in the 2020 Awakening campaign included Christine Sun Kim, the Guerrilla Girls, Alfredo Jaar, Edgar Heap of Birds, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Marilyn Minter, and Carlos Motta, as well as curators Jasmine Wahi and Rujeko Hockley.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Durón|first=Maximilíano|date=September 10, 2020|title=Artist-Run Organization For Freedoms Joins Forces with Top Artists, Curators for 2020 Election Initiative|url=https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/for-freedoms-awakening-2020-project-1234570489/|access-date=September 29, 2020|website=ARTnews.com}}</ref> An accompanying digital publication, the Infinite Playbook, outlines how individuals and institutions participate in collective action to increase voter engagement and build a cultural and political identity around listening, healing, and justice.<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 11, 2020|title=An online art book advises how to make a socially-distanced political stand|url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/art-photography/article/50427/1/for-freedoms-infinite-playbook-art-make-a-socially-distanced-political-stand|access-date=September 29, 2020|website=Dazed}}</ref>
==Selected For Freedoms artists== For Freedoms has worked with more than [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/12/lens/norman-rockwell-paintings-hank-willis-thomas-emily-schur-for-freedoms.html 800 artists] working in the United States. Some For Freedoms artists include: {{columns-list|colwidth=14em | *Adam Pendleton *Adriana Corral *Africa's Out! *Ai Weiwei *Alec Soth *Aida Muluneh *Andres Serrano *Awol Erizku *Bayeté Ross Smith *Carlos Motta *Carrie Mae Weems *Cassils *Cheryl Pope *Christine Sun Kim *Christopher Myers *David Birkin *David Byrne *Deborah Kass *Deborah Willis *Demian DinéYazhi' *Derek Eley *Derrick Adams *Dread Scott *Emma Sulkowicz *Fred Tomaselli *Jim Goldberg *Kameelah Janan Rasheed *Marilyn Minter *Mickalene Thomas *Rashid Johnson *Trevor Paglen *Xaviera Simmons *Zoë Buckman}}
==Activations== A For Freedoms activation is typically a billboard, exhibition, or an artist-led town hall, though activations have also taken the form of public programs, installations, bus stop benches, public meetings, advertisements, and lawn signs.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Yard Sign Activation|url=https://fluxprojects.org/productions/yard-sign-activation-for-freedoms/|access-date=June 14, 2021|website=Flux Projects}}</ref>
=== 2018 ===
* ''Margin and Center'', Houston Center for Photography, Fotofest Biennial, Houston, TX * ''Into Action'',<ref>{{cite news|title='Into Action' festival blends art, music and social justice; a 'momentum builder' for sparking activism|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-into-action-20180112-htmlstory.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=January 13, 2018}}</ref> Los Angeles, CA
=== 2017 ===
* ''Freedom from Want'', MOCA Cleveland Town Hall Residency, Cleveland, OH * ''Where Do We Go From Here'', Boston, MA * ''The Artifice of Drawn Borders'', Town Hall, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Boston, MA * ''Freedom From Fear'', MOCA Cleveland Town Hall Residency, Cleveland, OH * ''Art and Practice with For Freedoms'', MoMA Workshop, MoMA PS1, New York, NY * ''On Freedom'', Aperture Foundation, New York, NY * ''Collective Thinking'', Aperture Foundation, New York, NY * ''Laboratory for Freedom'', MoMA PS1, New York, NY
=== 2016 ===
* ''Freedom From Want'', Town Hall, Mistake Room, Los Angeles, CA * ''Four Freedoms'', Town Hall, Museum of Contemporary Art, Cleveland, Cleveland, OH * ''Dispatches'', Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, Winston-Salem, NC * ''For Freedoms Billboard Campaign'', Denver CO; Flint, MI; Columbus, OH; Lexington, KY; Memphis, TN; Pearl, MS; New Orleans, LA; Tallahassee, FL; Harrisburg, PA; Cleveland, OH; Miami, FL * ''Freedom from Fear'', Town Hall, The Mistake Room with Neuehouse, Los Angeles, CA * ''Freedom of Speech'', Town Hall, International Center for Photography, New York, NY * ''Freedom from Worship'', Town Hall, The Mistake Room, Los Angeles, CA * For Freedoms Benches, Chicago, NY * ''Take Aim'', Neuehouse and Westside Rifle & Pistol Range, New York, NY * Murals at Afropunk Festival, Brooklyn, NY * ''For Freedoms'', Inaugural Exhibitions, Jack Shainman Gallery, New York, NY
== Awards ==
*Featured in Artsy's 2018 Year in Visual Culture for mounting "the largest collaborative creative project in U.S. history."<ref>{{cite web|title=The Year in Visual Culture|date=December 19, 2018|url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-people-defined-visual-culture-2018}}</ref> *For Freedoms was awarded the 2017 Infinity Award for Online Platform and New Media by International Center for Photography.<ref>{{cite web|title=2017 ICP Infinity Awards|url=https://mediastorm.com/clients/2017-icp-infinity-awards-online-platform-and-new-media-for-freedoms-hank-willis-thomas-and-eric-gottesman|website=mediastorm}}</ref>
== References == {{reflist}}
== Further reading ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{Cite web |last1=Cascone |first1=Sarah |title=Rosario Dawson, Van Jones, and Others Star in a 21st-Century Remake of Norman Rockwell's Famous 'Four Freedoms' Series—See Them Here |work=Artnet News |date=October 31, 2018 |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/for-freedoms-rockwell-1384654 |access-date=November 6, 2018}} * {{Cite news |last1=Chow |first1=Andrew R. |title=A Public Art Campaign Will Commission Political Billboards Across the Country |work=The New York Times |date=June 3, 2018 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/03/arts/design/public-art-campaign-political-billboards.html |issn=0362-4331}} * {{Cite news |last1=Holson |first1=Laura M. |title=Reimagining Norman Rockwell's America |work=The New York Times |date=November 9, 2018 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/08/arts/norman-rockwell-freedom.html |issn=0362-4331}} * {{Cite web |last1=McFarlane |first1=Nyree |title=Here's why Arabic billboards are popping up in middle America |work=The National |date=November 5, 2018 |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/art/here-s-why-arabic-billboards-are-popping-up-in-middle-america-1.788294 |access-date=November 9, 2018}} * {{Cite web |last1=Neuendorf |first1=Henri |title=Artist Hank Willis Thomas's Political Nonprofit Establishes Headquarters in New York Ahead of the Midterm Elections |work=Artnet News |date=June 27, 2018 |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/hank-willis-thomas-fort-gansevoort-1310291 |access-date=June 28, 2018}} * {{Cite magazine |last1=Rothman |first1=Lily |title=Norman Rockwell's Vision of the Four Freedoms Left Some People Out. These Artists Are Trying to Fill Those Gaps |magazine=Time |date=October 12, 2018 |url=https://time.com/longform/four-freedoms/ |access-date=November 15, 2018}} * {{Cite news |last1=Sayej |first1=Nadja |title=Fifty billboards: an art project hopes to provoke debate across America |work=The Guardian |date=July 9, 2018 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/jul/09/fifty-billboards-an-art-project-hopes-to-provoke-debate-across-america |issn=0261-3077}} * {{Cite news |last1=Siegel |first1=Evan |title=The Artists Changing America, One Billboard at a Time |work=The Daily Beast |date=July 3, 2018 |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-artists-changing-america-one-billboard-at-a-time}} * {{Cite web |title=The Year in Visual Culture 2018 |work=Artsy |date=December 19, 2018 |url=https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-people-defined-visual-culture-2018 |access-date=March 3, 2019}} * {{Cite web |last1=Wong |first1=Alex |title=50 State Initiative, nation's largest public art project, launches in September |work=Archpaper.com |date=July 5, 2018 |url=https://archpaper.com/2018/07/50-state-initiative-launch-kickstarter/ |access-date=July 9, 2018}} * {{Cite magazine |last1=Bajekal |first1=Naina |title= How Artists of All Ages Keep Their Creative Spirit Alive |access-date=February 14, 2019 |magazine=Time |date=February 7, 2019 |url=https://time.com/longform/artists-through-the-ages/}}
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Category:United States political action committees Category:American artist groups and collectives Category:Arts organizations established in 2016 Category:Kickstarter-funded works of art Category:2016 establishments in New York City