As voting rights concerns remain at the forefront of American elections, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and the ACLU of Maryland will come together this fall for its annual Constitution Day symposium to tackle topics that have affected democracy for decades. Featuring Eric Gottesman, Courtland Cox, Bob Moses, and Nicole Hanson.

Abstract art paintings

Art paintings

HOSTED IN COLLABORATION WITH THE JOYCE FOUNDATION at SAIC Sullivan Galleries at 33 S. State Street, 7th floorDOORS OPEN at 10 A.MCONVERSATION GOES FROM 10:30 A.M. to 11:30 A.M.LIGHT REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED.In partnership with the Joyce Foundation, For Freedoms will curate a town hall discussion in conjunction with LOOKS OF FREEDOM, a special projects exhibition at EXPO Chicago curated by Modou Dieng and Michelle Woo. The conversation will be framed around the notion of Freedom of Speech and the role of art and artists in creating a more equitable global community and marketplace. The program will feature curators Alexandria Eregbu of Envisioning Justice, Tempestt Hazel of Sixty Inches From Center, as well as For Freedoms artists Kellie Romany, Jamal Petermaan, and Malick Welli.Cover image by Malick Welli.

I am an artist and a writer who works with photography, video, and installation. I have worked in regions of conflict, such as Northern Ireland during the hunger strikes, prior to the Peace Accords; in South Africa just before the end of apartheid; in Vieques Puerto Rico during and after the U.S. Navy's occupation of the island, and at the site of the former Iron Curtain, currently known as The European Green Belt.

Light Work is pleased to announce Be Strong and Do Not Betray Your Soul: Selections from the Light Work Collection. The exhibition is guest-curated by For Freedoms, a platform for civic engagement, discourse, and direct action for artists in the United States, co-founded in 2016 by former Light Work artists-in-residence Eric Gottesman and Hank Willis Thomas. Since then, For Freedoms has produced exhibitions, town hall meetings, and public art to spur greater participation in civic life. On their motivations for starting For Freedoms, Gottesman states, “Our hope was to spark dialogue about our collective civic responsibility to push for freedom and justice today, as those before us pushed for freedom and justice in their time through peaceful protest and political participation.” Borrowing its title from the Charles Biasiny-Rivera piece of the same name, Be Strong and Do Not Betray Your Soul features more than forty photographs from the Light Work Collection that explore topics of politics, social justice, identity, and visibility. These subjects have remained significant for Light Work and many of the artists we have supported over our forty-five year history. The list of artists includes: Laura Aguilar, George Awde, Karl Baden, Lois Barden and Harry Littell, Claire Beckett, Charles Biasing-Rivera, Samantha Box, Deborah Bright, Chan Chao, Renee Cox, Rose Marie Cromwell, Jen Davis, Jess Dugan, John Edmonds, Amy Elkins, Nereyda Garcia Ferraz, Jennifer Garza-Cuen, Antony Gleaton, Jim Goldberg, David Graham, Mahtab Hussain, Osamu James Nakagawa, Tommy Kha, Pipo Nguyen-Duy, Deana Lawson, Mary Mattingly, Jackie Nickerson, Shelley Niro, Suzanne Opton, Kristine Potter, Ernesto Pujol, Irina Rozovsky, Alessandra Sanguinetti, Kanako Sasaki, Pacifico Silano, Clarissa Sligh, Beuford Smith, Amy Stein, Mila Teshaieva, Brian Ulrich, Ted Wathen, Carrie Mae Weems, Carla Williams, Hank Willis Thomas, Pixy Yijun Liao. In addition to the selections of work on view at Light Work, we have collaborated with For Freedoms to display a series of billboards throughout the city of Syracuse created by internationally-renowned artists Zoe Buckman, Eric Gottesman, Carrie Mae Weems, and Hank Willis Thomas. These billboards use photography and text to address social issues and our political climate. This exhibition and related programming coincide with The 50 State Initiative, an ambitious new phase of For Freedoms Fall 2018 programming, during the lead-up to the midterm elections. Building off of the existing artistic infrastructure in the United States, For Freedoms has developed a network of artists and institutional partners, including Light Work, who will produce nationwide public art installations, exhibitions, and local community dialogues in order to inject nuanced, artistic thinking into public discourse. Centered around the vital work of artists, these exhibitions, and related projects will model how arts institutions can become civic forums for action.

The Fleming Museum of Art is pleased to announce the exhibition Be Strong and Do Not Betray Your Soul: Selections from the Light Work Collection, originally organized by Light Work, a nonprofit organization in Syracuse, New York, that provides direct support to artists working in the media of photography and digital imaging. The show was guest-curated by For Freedoms, a platform for civic engagement, discourse, and direct action for artists in the United States, co-founded in 2016 by former Light Work artists-in-residence Eric Gottesman and Hank Willis Thomas. Since then, For Freedoms has produced exhibitions, town hall meetings, and public art to spur greater participation in civic life. On their motivation for starting For Freedoms, Gottesman states: “Our hope was to spark dialogue about our collective civic responsibility to push for freedom and justice today, as those before us pushed for freedom and justice in their time through peaceful protest and political participation.” https://www.uvm.edu/fleming/be-strong-and-do-not-betray-your-soul

The University of Vermont, officially The University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a public research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is the state's land-grant university.

An exploration of fiction, fantasy, and the future, the exhibition and its accompanying performances offer a stage to unpack and repack notions of blackness, brownness, queerness, and belonging in order to give these stories a form, resonance, and connection.

A boutique company focusing on equal parts collaboration and strategy. Our mission is to produce an interactive platform for artists, businesses and collectors to engage and motivate each other through curating and advising.

New American Economy brings together a bipartisan group of mayors from across the country and business leaders from all sectors of the economy to raise awareness of the economic benefits of sensible immigration reform.

Editor & Visual Director