Jacob Clayton is a self-taught visual artist who uses photography, collage, and mixed media as means to communicate his experience living for decades as a closeted transgender man in America. Current projects include Deprivation of Self, Portraits, which expands the vocabulary of photo-based art to challenge gender identity, expression, and expectation – from every side. And Sustained Trauma, a therapeutic journey through dissociation and the road to gather and assemble the reclaimed pieces of a life.

In Honor of… is a multi-faceted project of art, literature, and performances, in remembrance of hundreds of men and women who have been taken as political prisoners in Iran in recent years. They have fought for social justice, civil liberties, and worker and environmental rights. Today, they are behind bars for wanting to speak freely, practice their faith peacefully, join a union, receive fair wages, or protect the environment. The Iranian regime, however, has continued to deny them this voice and freedom.

Profession - art administrator Mother of two amazing individuals

Photograph by Maria Baranova

Photograph by Maria Baranova

G.O.N.G. (Gathering of Noetic Generation) and the idea for WAVE formed during a call with artist Mel Chin and a team of artists who have previously collaborated with the Fundred Project and Mel Chin Studio. Artists include 2019 MacArthur Fellow Mel Chin (Egypt, NC), whose 2018 show “All Over the Place” covered 5 boroughs of NYC including Times Square; Jacob Brault (Athens, GA), Visual Artist; Pat Clifford (Cincinnati, OH), social worker and consultant for community based organizations and collaboratives; Fabiola R Delgado (Washington, DC), Museum Professional and Independent Curator; Maps Glover (Washington, DC), performance, painter, multi-media artist; Dawne Langford (NYC / Washington DC), independent documentary producer and curator/founder of Quota Arts; Ben Premeaux (Charlotte, NC), artist and Filmmaker at The smARTlab media; MichaelAngelo Rodriguez (Washington, DC), artist working with photography and poetry; Amanda Wiles (Marshall, NC), artist and Director of Fundred Project and S.O.U.R.C.E. Studio; Elijah Williamson (Washington, DC), artist and designer; Naoko Wowsugi (Washington, DC), conceptual artist and faculty, American University. Sound made visible imagery by CymaScope.com, founded by acoustics engineer and pioneer John Stuart Reid.

Photograph by Maria Baranova

Mural in Brooklyn

Carrie Mae Weem's new project, Resist Covid/Take 6 aims to raise public awareness about COVID-19 among people of color—Black, Brown, and Native American communities that are disproportionately impacted by the deadly virus—by promoting preventative measures and dispelling harmful falsehoods, while also thanking those who have placed themselves in harm’s way: front-line and essential workers. Resist Covid/Take 6 focuses on raising awareness and encouraging ongoing dialogue about the issue of social equity or the lack thereof, safety, and preventative measures. In collaboration with Weems, For Freedoms is pleased to announce the new mural in Brooklyn, "We Go On!"Mural Location: 176 Flushing Ave, Brooklyn, NY. Between Clinton Ave & Waverly Ave

Simmons’ artwork is one of a series of photographs that investigate our contemporary political landscape. The piece shows a figure gesturing in a field, an art historical reference that figures greatly in the artist's work. Text painted at the top of the image reads: “Freedom is not guaranteed.” Recognizing that for Black descendants of North American chattel slavery, freedoms have been captured only through great struggle, this work points to the founding structure of the United States, the legacy of slavery, the construction of race, the failure of emancipation, and how they continue to affect our lives today. This piece was originally displayed in South Dakota as a part of For Freedoms' 2018 campaign, the 50 States Initiative.Xaviera Simmons received her BFA from Bard College (2004) after spending two years on a walking pilgrimage retracing the Transatlantic slave trade with Buddhist monks. She completed the Whitney Museum’s Independent Study Program in Studio Art (2005) while simultaneously completing a two- year actor-training conservatory with The Maggie Flanigan Studio. She is a visiting lecturer and the inaugural 2019 Solomon Fellow at Harvard University and will be awarded The Charles Flint Kellogg Award in Arts and Letters from Bard College in Spring 2020. Simmons has exhibited nationally and internationally where major exhibitions and performances include The Museum Of Modern Art, The Studio Museum in Harlem, The Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, The Public Art Fund, The Sculpture Center, The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, and Brooklyn Museum, among many others.

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BMike’s artwork invokes a theme prevalent in Black American writing. The piece displays the text, “I am my ancestors' wildest dreams,” echoing Langston Hughes’ words, “What happens to a dream deferred?” and Maya Angelou’s couplet, “Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave.” Extending this tradition, BMike’s work is an expression of pride and a tribute to the strength and endurance of the Black Americans. While celebrating Black lives today, this work summons the defiance that envisioning Black futures often requires.