For Freedoms|50 State Initiative

This fall the University of New Mexico Art Museum and College of Fine Arts,  in partnership with For Freedoms,  will present a series of programs and political activations for the 50 State Initiative.  This initiative is a non-partisan, nationwide campaign that uses art as a means of inspiring civic participation in advance of the 2018 midterm elections. 

For Freedoms was founded by artists in 2016 as a platform for civic engagement, discourse, and direct action in the United States. Inspired by Norman Rockwell’s 1943 paintings of the four universal freedoms articulated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1941—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear — For Freedoms uses art to deepen public discussions of civic issues and core values. The 50 State Initiative is the largest creative collaboration in the history of this country with over 200 institutional partners.

University of New Mexico Art Museum will create an interactive gallery space inviting visitors to collectively define notions of freedom. Based on participatory prompts in previous For Freedoms projects, the gallery will serve as a place to reflect upon broader and varied articulations of what it means to be free.  

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.