Main Gallery

Maman Sculpture
Practitioner:
Louise Bourgeois
Date:
Jan 1 1991
Through the use of mythical and archetypal iconography, Bourgeois translated her encounters into a very individualized symbolic imagery, employing things such as swirls, arachnids, cages, surgical equipment, and sewed appendages to represent the feminine mind, beauty, and mental agony.
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Pantomime for Climate CHange
Practitioner:
The Red Rebels
Date:
Apr 4 2023
Replete with an unmistakable look, intense silence, and mime-like moves, the Red Rebels are, quite intentionally, riveting. In the words of artist and activist Doug Francisco, founder of the Red Rebels Brigade: "We divert, distract, delight, and inspire the people who watch us."
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Under the Influence
Practitioner:
Bryan Lewis Saunders
Date:
Mar 1 2013
Artist Bryan Lewis Saunders took it upon himself to draw a self portrait every time he took a psychoactive substance. These ranged from zoloft to morphine to marijuana and it is an amazing subjective experience to witness. We can almost get a taste of what each drug must feel like on the inside, at least to Saunders, and an experiment like this raises some important questions like what are drugs and what place do they have in society?
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The Great Migration Series
Practitioner:
Jacob Lawrence
Date:
May 12 1941
National Public Radio (NPR): There's no historical marker outside Jacob Lawrence's childhood home in New York City's Harlem neighborhood. But Khalil Gibran Muhammad, director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, has an idea of what it might say: "Here lived one of the 20th century's most influential visual artists, a man named Jacob Lawrence, who was a child of southern migrants."
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Taco Bell Boycott
Practitioner:
Coalition of Imolakee Workers
Date:
Jan 1 2001
For years, workers in Florida’s tomato fields have endured poverty wages and terrible working conditions. In 1993, a small, community-based organization called the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) formed to demand an end to these unfair labor practices.
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The City: Pedestrian and Cyclist Cemetery
Practitioner:
Bicicleta Blanca Guadalajara
Date:
Jan 8 2009
The City: Pedestrian and Cyclist Cemetery 
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'Pharma - Greed - Kills'
Practitioner:
ACT UP, london
Date:
Apr 2 2016
April 2nd, 2016, organized by members of the Aids Coalition to Unleash Power faction in London, five activists stormed London's Gilead Pharmaceutical offices and frantically disrobed to reveal painted backs spelling out the word 'Greed." About 30 other activists rallied outside the building.
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Silence = Death
Practitioner:
Avram Finkelstein, Brian Howard, Oliver Johnston, Charles Kreloff, Chris Lione and Jorge Socarrás
Date:
Apr 3 1987
This is a prime example of the marriage of art and activism. The Silence = Death poster is simple but extremely powerful representation of the obstacles the AIDS movement was facing (suppression of gay people + their problems, lack of awareness surrounding the pandemic).
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ARTISTS FIGHT TRUMP
Practitioner:
Patricia Dahlman
Date:
Mar 11 2019
Many citizens of the United States have spoken out against Trump by organizing, protesting, voting, writing and making art. Most of us have hoped for the impeachment of this inept, cruel, lying and corrupt con man who is a danger to our country and to the world. We the people of the United States will continue to speak out and fight against Trump.
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Invisible Women - A World Designed for Men
Practitioner:
Caroline Criado Perez
Date:
Mar 7 2019
The problem with feminism is that it’s just too familiar. The attention of a jaded public and neophiliac media may have been aroused by #MeToo, with its connotations of youth, sex and celebrity, but for the most part it has drifted recently towards other forms of prejudice, such as transphobia. Unfortunately for women, though, the hoary old problems of discrimination, violence and unpaid labour are still very much with us.
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Antoine Hunter is Deaf and Hard of hearing! Express
Practitioner:
Antoine Hunter
Date:
Jun 29 2009
I met Antoine in 2012, when I first found out I was going deaf, and attended my first ASL Meetup in San Francisco. At that time I was only moderately hard of hearing (HOH), and had no idea what was to come. I didn't stay in the San Francisco Bay Area long to get too involved in the Deaf community.
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Shine MSD
Practitioner:
Sawyer Garrity, Andrea Peña, Brittani Kagan, students and faculty of MSD
Date:
May 4 2018
Shine, written by Stoneman Douglas students Sawyer Garrity and Andrea Peña in response to the tragic shooting at their school on February 14, 2018 to inspire unity, hope, and change. MSD alum Brittani Kagan collaborated with students and faculty to create this music video to honor the victims and the school.
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How Snowden Canceled the 4th of July Diplomatic Reception in Bolivia
Practitioner:
Julian Assange
Date:
Jul 2 2013
On July 2nd, 2013, after attending the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) conference, Bolivian President Evo Morales departed Russia from Vnukovo Airport in Moscow aboard his presidential plane. However, a "leak" suggested that Edward Snowden was aboard, which led Spain, France, and Portugal to close their airspace to the aircraft, to then be grounded in Austria.
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Breaking the fourth wall: theater as human rights activism
Practitioner:
Developing Artists
Date:
Jul 19 2017
Human rights activism relies on an ability to tell stories to diverse audiences that will inspire action toward justice. Distributing information through journalism, whether it be traditional or new media, is the standard method of raising awareness. Globalization and the movement of people means that activists and artists from affected communities may cooperate to mutual benefit and find new audiences in the process.
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A Presidential Parody
Practitioner:
A Presidential Parody, Maia Lorian, Abe Lincoln Jr.
Date:
Nov 19 2018
NEW YORK, Ny., Nov 19, 2018 - Two artists, Actress/Creator/Native New Yorker Maia Lorian and collaborator veteran NYC Street Artist Abe Lincoln Jr. bring to you “A Presidential Parody.” In a nation that seems to place higher value on the American dollar over the American life, the artists felt it was time to release an ad campaign that reflects Trump’s “all American” values.
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The Mending Project
Practitioner:
Beili Liu
Date:
Mar 3 2011
Imagine walking into a silent room where a woman is mending. Now imagine that she's sitting underneath 1,500 pairs of sharp Chinese scissors that are suspended from the ceiling, precariously pointed downwards. This was the idea behind The Mending Project by Beili Liu.
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Wuming Art Collective
Practitioner:
Zhao Wenliang, Yang Yushu, Zhang Weu and fellows
Date:
Jan 1 1969
The Wuming Painting Collective, formed in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), was a clandestine group of artists who defied the authoritarian control over art and expression. In a time when all art was harnessed as propaganda to glorify the state and Chairman Mao, Wuming artists turned their gaze toward everyday life, painting still lifes, street scenes, human figures, and most iconically, serene landscapes.
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Project Black Mask HK
Practitioner:
Joyce Ho
Date:
May 28 2020
"Project Black Mask HK (PBMHK) was founded by a (then) 18-year-old, Joyce Ho, who is an American-born Hong Konger. On May 28, 2020, during a peak of the Coronavirus Pandemic, many people expressed frustration with their inability to protest on the streets (of the United States) in support of the freedom and democracy for Hong Kong. PBMHK became a space where people could do exactly that.
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Remembering Photographer and Activist Kwame Brathwaite, Who Gave a Visual Language to the ‘Black Is Beautiful’ Movement
Practitioner:
Kwame Brathwaite
Date:
Apr 7 2023
Kwame Brathwaite, the photographer and activist whose work gave a visual identity to the “Black is Beautiful” movement, died on April 1. He was 85. The news was shared by his son, Kwame Brathwaite, Jr., in an Instagram post. “I am deeply saddened to share that my Baba, the patriarch of our family, our rock and my hero has transitioned,” Brathwaite, Jr. wrote. “Thank you for your love and support during this difficult time.”
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Real Democracy Australia - Viral Participatory Poster Project.
Practitioner:
Carl Scrase in collaboration with Real Democracy Australia
Date:
Feb 24 2013
Do we need to crowdsource a new Australian Constitution? Does anything matter more than the environment? Should Australia become a republic with an Australian head of state? Should whistleblowers be protected? Is representative democracy antiquated? Controversial artist Carl Scrase is asking these questions in a new project that mixes street art posters with political activism and aims to go viral through social media.
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