 is an artist collective that centers art and creativity as a catalyst for transformative connection and collective liberation, By wielding the power of art, they aim to deepen and expand our capacity to interrogate what is and imagine what could be.

Leading up to the 2016 elections in the United States, For Freedoms asked how one could center artists’ voices in public discourse, broaden what participation in democracy looks like, and initiate a larger conversation about the role of art in local, national, and global politics. What began as a one-off campaign has now evolved into an ongoing movement. For Freedoms has since produced artworks and run nationwide campaigns timed to significant political elections: in 2018 they conducted the 

 as the “largest creative collaboration in United States history” and in 2020 they launched the 

, activating artists, museums, schools, corporations and civic organizations in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Washington, D.C., Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands and beyond. For Freedoms has grown to become the largest community for creative civic engagement in the United States. Comprised of thousands of artists and organizations working together to invite radical imagination and set the table for new national conversations.

For Freedoms maintains that if creativity is a core societal value, and if artists are at every table, new ideas are more likely to take hold. With that, they can build new systems that no longer rely on extractive or corrupt foundations but instead center love, care, and community. They are working toward a new economic model for art and culture while offering financial and education opportunities for artists.

Founded in 2016 by a coalition of artists, academics and organizers, including Hank, Eric Gottesman, Michelle Woo, and Wyatt Gallery, For Freedoms continues to be artist-led and is dedicated to awakening a culture of listening, healing, and justice. We are invested in an infinite game— one where there are no winners versus losers, and one where the objective is for everyone to continue to play.

For Freedoms

WE BELIEVE IN THE POWER TO RADICALLY REIMAGINE THE FUTURE

You know the list of injustices. (You do, right?)

We are a network of thousands of artists, cultural workers, and activists driven by the most urgent social and political issues of our time. We’re organizing communities, sharing knowledge, building art, agitating for change, and getting out the vote. 

 believe art has the power to wake people up. Artists are always at the vanguard of social change, and art is a tool to educate, motivate, and activate our citizenry, inspire us, open our hearts and minds, and transform our lives. We’re gathering all of our creative ventures under a common umbrella to unleash the power of art on an unprecedented scale.

Working together, we make the culture—we are the culture—that makes the future.

In 1860, as the United States careened toward the Civil War, a group of young patriots launched a movement to wake up the country. “The Wide Awakes” of 1860 were mechanics, laborers, and clerks who opened their eyes, stood up, and marched and sang in the streets with flags and capes and banners by the tens of thousands. Eventually, hundreds of thousands agitated for a little-known presidential candidate from the newly formed Republican Party: Abraham Lincoln. They were creative with their use of art, song, and public rallies, and pushed for the abolition of slavery at a critical moment in history.

160 years later, we face a choice as a nation: chaos or community?

Once again, it’s time for a Wake Up, a Reset, and a Reimagining of what is possible. At this very moment—all over the world—a new Wide Awakes movement is building.

Individually we are asleep. Together we are awake.

Wide Awakes

A giant inflatable speech bubble – video recording booth – traveling the world…

.  

Everyone has their own truth. What is yours?

In Search of the Truth is an interactive project comprised of a touring, portable ‘Truth Booth’. Iconically shaped like a cartoon speech bubble – it invites people to speak the truth – inside is a photo booth-like interior that records and compiles two-minute video responses as participants finish the statement, “The truth is…”.

First executed in 2011, the project, run by Cause Collective founders Hank, Ryan Alexiev, Jim Ricks and Will Sylvester, has journeyed from Ireland to Afghanistan and in between, ambitiously touching down in all 50 states leading up to the 2016 Election Day. To date, 6,000 people have shared their thoughts with 

In Search of the Truth (Truth Booth)

is a team of artists, designers and ethnographers creating innovative art in the public realm. Their projects explore and enliven public spaces by creating a dynamic conversation between issues, sites and the public audience. By exploring ideas that affect and shape society, they seek to add the "public" back into public space and art.

In Search of the Truth, Question Bridge, The Truth is I am You, The Long March and Along the Way 

which have been installed and exhibition worldwide.

Cause Collective

 is a platform for Black men of all ages and backgrounds to ask and respond to questions about life in America. It was create to stimulate connections and understanding among Black men, but also wanted to show the diversity of thought, character and identity in the Black male population so rarely seen in American media. In essence, it seeks to represent and redefine Black male identity in America.

Question Bridge is a method used by those who want to create honest expression and healing dialogue among members of a particular group. It works like this: first, one person asks a question looking into camera, as if they are talking directly to another person. Later, another person responds by talking directly into a camera. This question-answer exchange, the Question Bridge, reduces the stress of normal face-to-face conversations and makes people feel more comfortable with expressing their deeply held feelings on topics that divide, unite and puzzle. This was the central approach used in the project.

The project launched in 2012 as a documentary-styled video art installation prompted by artist Chris Johnson’s 1996 project around class and generational divisions in San Diego’s African American community. A decade later, Hank approached Johnson about doing a similar project focused on Black Males. Since then, it has expanded to include an interactive website and mobile app, community engagement events and an education curriculum for high school students.

Artists and producers involved include Hank, Chris Johnson, Delroy Lindo, Natasha Logan, Bayette Ross Smith, Kamal Sinclair, Will Sylvester, John Vidar, Rosa White, Deb Willis, and Jess Williams.

Question Bridge

Formed in 2014, The Writing on the Wall is housed within the fabric of the radically imaginative justice work of 

: a global network and think tank that supports, instigates and popularizes innovative prison reform efforts around the world. With 126 partners spanning every continent and more than 50 countries, INN uses The Writing on the Wall as a visual anchorage and soapbox for partners believing in the power of creative approaches to promote justice.

A collaboration between visual artist Baz Dresinger and Incarceration Nations Network (INN) – a global network of justice re-imaginers and prison reformers – The Writing on the Wall is a decade-old, shape-shifting art installation made from writing and drawings by people in prison around the world. In 2021, The Writing on the Wall evolved from visual intervention to values-in-action worldwide project, The Writing on the Wall as Enterprise.

In an effort to support and create reintegration opportunities worldwide while also advocating against global discrimination toward formerly incarcerated people, INN supports and generates social enterprises that benefit people who were incarcerated, while also displaying The Writing on the Wall as part of the business branding.

The Writing on the Wall has been activated since 2019 in New York City, Columbus, OH, Washington DC, Boise, ID, Toronto, Nashville, Los Angeles, Miami, Dominican Republic, Thailand, Mexico City, Czech Republic, Kenya, Argentina, Colombia, and Jamaica.