We believe citizenship is defined by participation, not by ideology. Through non-partisan nationwide programming, we use art as as vehicle for participation to deepen public discussions on civic issues and core values. We are a hub for artists, arts institutions, and citizens who want to be more engaged in public life.
Founded in 2016 by artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman, For Freedoms is a platform for creative civic engagement, discourse, and direct action. Inspired by American artist Norman Rockwell’s paintings of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms (1941)—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear—For Freedoms’ exhibitions, installations, and public programs use art to deepen public discussions on civic issues and core values, and to advocate for equality, dialogue, and civic participation. As a nexus between art, politics, commerce, and education, For Freedoms aims to inject anti-partisan, critical thinking that fine art requires into the political landscape through programming, exhibitions, and public artworks. In 2018, For Freedoms launched the 50 State Initiative: the largest creative collaboration in U.S. history.
For Freedoms is excited to present artworks initially revealed as part of their fall 2018 50 State Initiative.
Romans 13:10—originally featured in Las Cruces, New Mexico–is taken from Richard Misrach’s latest series Border Cantos, and includes eight suites of photographs from his ongoing series Desert Cantos.
In Alchemic, Cassils presents their gold-painted, muscular body as a philosophical homage to Robert Mapplethorpe’s classically beautiful Male Nudes and Statuary series.
Becoming an Image is a piece that works at the interstices of performance, photography, and sculpture.
Learn MoreFaces Never Forgotten offers an intimate glimpse into the lives of Somalis living in Somaliland, a nation shrouded in misconceptions and myths.
Learn MoreFumi’s piece explores how the often discarded images and objects of the everyday engage with visual strategies of reality, make believe, desire and detachment.
Learn MoreIn the Pull-Up series, close-up photographs of the waist area become landscape inspired compositions: bands of color formed by shirt, underwear, and low-slung pants.
Learn MoreThe Department of Photography & Imaging at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, in collaboration with United Photo Industries and For Freedoms’ 50 State Initiative, presents “cit.i.zen.ship: reflections on rights by teen photographers” with photographs, collages, and videos by high school students from across the U.S. that speak directly to the current moment that students, educators, and artists alike are experiencing and responding to.
Learn MoreFeaturing: For Freedoms, Resistance Revival Chorus
Learn MoreJoin artist and activist Muna Malik as she hosts a workshop on portrait photography and discusses how photographers can use their practice to bridge cultural divides and cultivate greater inclusion and awareness of vulnerable and underrepresented communities.
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