Skip to Main Content
 

Global Search Box

 
 
 

ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

A Study of For Freedoms: New Ways for Artists to Participate via Traditional Mediums

Abstract Details

2019, Master of Arts (MA), Ohio University, Art History (Fine Arts).
In 2016, the first artist-led super political action committee (PAC), For Freedoms, was formed by artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman. Two years later, the super PAC had transformed into a non-partisan platform for civic engagement and was generating the largest creative collaboration in U.S. history, The 50 State Initiative. This thesis seeks to analyze For Freedoms as art organization and impart examples of how it provides structure for contemporary artists to engage and participate within American society. The research focuses on For Freedoms’ connection to the theoretical concepts of participatory culture, media convergence, and collective intelligence by means of reimagining uses for traditional mediums such as billboards and town halls. The research also showcases how For Freedoms provided space for the attempted reworking of classic American iconography. This thesis is meant to communicate how an art organization can help foster a system and space for artistic collaboration, connection, and creative participation by artists with other artists and the general public, ultimately helping to create a more diverse and inclusive conversation around what it means to be American.
Samuel Dodd (Committee Chair)
Dori Griffin (Advisor)
Marion Lee (Advisor)
64 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Harper, R. K. (2019). A Study of For Freedoms: New Ways for Artists to Participate via Traditional Mediums [Master's thesis, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1555942050060463

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Harper, Rachel. A Study of For Freedoms: New Ways for Artists to Participate via Traditional Mediums. 2019. Ohio University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1555942050060463.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Harper, Rachel. "A Study of For Freedoms: New Ways for Artists to Participate via Traditional Mediums." Master's thesis, Ohio University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1555942050060463

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)