Projects tagged "Washington D.C."

untitled (Long Live the Real King)
Practitioner:
Unknown
Date:
Feb 24 2025
An A.I. generated video of Donald Trump sucking Elon Musk's toes was broadcast at the Department of Housing and Development headquarters in DC in February of 2025. As an actual art piece, we can debate if the video itself is art. However, the caption, subject matter of the fake video, and chosen location to broadcast is definitely a strategic work of creative activism. From the New York Times:
The Monument Quilt Project
Practitioner:
Activist organization FORCE: Upsetting Rape Culture.
Date:
May 31 2019
The Monument Quilt is a large quilt that serves as a memorial for survivors of rape and abuse. It contains over 3,000 stories from individuals who have experienced gender-based violence, and allows visitors to add their own stories by writing, painting, or stitching onto red fabric. The project took place over a span of six years, during which the organizers traveled to 49 states and 33 cities in the U.S.
Capitol Lawn Covered in 7,000 Pairs of Shoes
Practitioner:
avaaz
Date:
Mar 13 2018
Protesters left 7,000 pairs of shoes in front of the Capitol building Tuesday to symbolize the number of children killed by gun violence in the United States since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in December 2012. From 8:30 am to 2 pm, the shoes were displayed on the southeast lawn in the hope of sending a clear message to Congress: Reform gun control legislation or more children will be killed by gun violence.
March Against Death
Practitioner:
New Mobilization Committee to End the War in Viet Nam
Date:
Nov 13 1969
On the night of Thursday, Nov. 13, 1969, the “March Against Death” began. By the time that weekend was over, Washington, D.C., had seen more protesters than any single event in its history had drawn. Attendance was higher, by tens of thousands, than at the 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington. And despite a name that, 45 years later, may seem overblown or vague, the march was actually about something very specific.
R-Evolution
Practitioner:
Marco Cochrane and Julia Whitelaw
Date:
Nov 10 2017
Activists are working to bring a steel sculpture of a 45-foot-tall nude woman to Washington, where she will temporarily face the White House from a perch on the National Mall. Transporting the sculpture from its home in San Francisco will be an undertaking, but its artist, Marco Cochrane, said he saw it as an opportunity to start a conversation about violence against women.
Burkaphilia
Practitioner:
Behnaz Babazadeh
Date:
Jun 1 2012
When Behnaz Babazadeh was young, her family moved from Afghanistan to the US. She loved almost everything about her new home — especially America’s amazing selection of candy — but she also loved wearing her familiar pink-flowered headscarf, which she’d grown used to wearing as part of her school uniform in her old home.
Monopoly Man
Practitioner:
Amanda Werner
Date:
Oct 4 2017
During Wednesday’s Senate hearing on the Equifax data breach, a protester dressed as the “Monopoly Man” from the board game photobombed Equifax CEO Richard Smith’s testimony. While the CEO discussed his company’s breach that affected 145.5 million people, the protester gazed skeptically through a monocle at the back of his head.
#DontMuteDC and Moechella Protest
Practitioner:
Don't Mute DC and Long Live Go-Go
Date:
Apr 7 2019
In response to white gentrifiers trying to silence go-go music on the corners of Florida Avenue and 7th Avenue, activists and D.C. residents poured into the streets by blasting go-go music and celebrating its rich history within the city. For those unfamiliar, go-go music is at the heart of D.C. culture and features live bands playing covers of, and sometimes original, music with all different types of drums and other percussion instruments.
Trayvon Martin's Flight Suit Will Be Displayed At This New Smithsonian Exhibit
Practitioner:
The Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture
Date:
Mar 1 2023
A new exhibition titled “Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures” will debut at the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) to examine Afrofuturist expression and culture as it relates to music, activism, art, and more.
This Historic Marian Anderson Performance Made Her an Icon of the Civil Rights Movement
Practitioner:
Marian Anderson
Date:
Apr 9 1939
Marian Anderson, the legendary African American contralto, sang at the Lincoln Memorial on Easter Sunday in 1939 after she was refused a performance at Washington’s Constitution Hall by the Daughters of the American Revolution because she was black. Over 75,000 people attended the performance, which was broadcast live on the radio and arranged in part by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt with the support of her husband, President Franklin D.
Students at March for Our Lives Wear $1.05 Price Tags to Call Out Marco Rubio
Practitioner:
March for Our Lives
Date:
Mar 24 2018
Students at the March for Our Lives rallies across the country and world today, March 24, are wearing a “price tag” of $1.05. The reason? March organizers have argued that $1.05 is the amount each student is worth to Florida Republican Senator Marco Rubio.
Washington, DC climate protesters drag paint on glass cover of art sculpture
Practitioner:
Declare Emergency
Date:
Apr 27 2023
Climate protesters in Washington, D.C. were handcuffed on Thursday after they dragged paint on a glass cover protecting an art sculpture. The incident happened at the National Gallery of Art by the activism group Declare Emergency in an attempt to bring attention to climate change, according to the Washington Post.
Ivanka Vacuuming
Practitioner:
Jennifer Rubell
Date:
Feb 1 2019
From Public Delivery: "The art piece, which was showcased at the Flashpoint Gallery in Washington D.C. from February 1 to 17, 2019, allowed visitors to interact with it. The audience had a pile of crumbs placed right in front of the three-walled setup, which they would through and watch as ‘Ivanka’ vacuumed them all up.
Change the Ref Announces Penalty Flag for Change
Practitioner:
Change The Ref
Date:
Feb 12 2023
WASHINGTON, Feb. 12, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While the United States is getting prepared once again for the Big Game on February 12th, the event with the highest audience nationwide, few are aware that last year there were more than 45,000 gun violence victims, and just during the first month of 2023, there were more than 39 massive shootings in the country.
Photos: Ukrainians celebrate their Independence Day by running in vyshyvankas
Practitioner:
Lilly Quiroz
Date:
Aug 27 2024
Whether your family’s traditional dress is a Mexican huipil, an Indian saree, or a Scottish kilt, where do you usually wear these clothes? In Ukraine, the traditional attire is a vyshyvanka. Typically made of cotton or linen, these shirts feature embroidered patterns along the front, collar and sleeves.
The AIDS Memorial Quilt
Practitioner:
Cleve Jones
Date:
Oct 11 1987
Cleve Jones's powerful vision for memorializing those lost to AIDS was realized in October 1987 in Washington D.C. It showcased the artistic contributions of people who'd lost loved ones to the virus from a number of US metropolitan centers. The quilt has continued to grow for the nearly 40 years since. By 1992, the AIDS Memorial Quilt included panels from every state and 28 countries.
Traveling While Black
Practitioner:
Felix & Paul Studios
Date:
Jan 25 2019
The theatre has luxurious red velvet upholstered seats, grand ceilings and gilded trimmings. The rows of chairs stretch back into the ostensible blackness, with light beaming from the projector room. Ahead, archival footage of stylish black travelers pack the screen as an unseen narrator discusses the hardships of mid-20th-century black travel.
Activists lay thousands of shoes outside Capitol for children killed by gun violence
Practitioner:
avaaz
Date:
Mar 13 2018
WASHINGTON -- Thousands of shoes were laid outside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to represent children who have been killed by gun violence. Avaaz, an international advocacy group, planned the demonstration to honor victims killed since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012.
When Art Meets Science: The Hyberbolic Crochet Coral Reef
Practitioner:
Margaret Wertheim, Christine Wertheim
Date:
Oct 16 2010
The “Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef,” a unique exhibition and thought-provoking fusion of science, conservation, mathematics, and art, is on display in Washington, D.C., at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. By engaging local communities to crochet coral reefs, the exhibition celebrates the reefs' beautiful diversity and speaks to the urgent need to protect these vanishing ecosystems.
Vietnam comes to Washington
Practitioner:
Vietnam Veterans Against the War
Date:
Jun 15 1971
It’s the summer of 1971 and tourists flock around one of Washington DC’s most famous hotspots – the Capitol steps. Journalist Art Goldberg recalls ‘a squad of soldiers moving through the space. They are grubby-looking troopers, clad in jungle fatigues. Jumping a low fence, they begin shouting at a group of tourists. “All right! Hold it! Hold it! Nobody move. Nobody move!” Their voices full of tension and anger. A man runs from the crowd.