The National Gallery of Art and Columbian College’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design will launch a three-year artist residency for artist-led collective For Freedoms, known for centering art as a catalyst for creative civic engagement and direct action.
With the goal of fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and encouraging innovative and accessible approaches to arts research and public practice, a series of programming and public events will mark the residency’s debut from October 4-6, 2024.
This is For Freedoms’ first joint residency and long-term collaboration with both a university and the National Gallery of Art. Founded in 2016 by artists including Hank Willis Thomas, Michelle Woo, Eric Gottesman and Wyatt Gallery, For Freedoms is known for its public installations, billboards and other campaigns with more than 1,000 artists. Their mission is to center artistic expression as a spark to reshape conversations about politics and society and expand participation in democracy.
The residency is the first large-scale public program produced by the reimagined Corcoran School-National Gallery partnership, which initiated 40 educational events since its launch in fall 2023. Housed in the Corcoran and the National Gallery with events across GW and Washington, D.C., the residency will elevate students and emerging artists through programming, research and education and extend beyond traditional art structures in the region.
“We are excited to launch this residency with For Freedoms, the first in our new partnership with the National Gallery of Art. It will spark experimental and interdisciplinary projects with our students and innovative programming for the broader community,” said Corcoran Director Lauren Onkey.
The new residency will act as an interdisciplinary lab and curriculum for art making and interpretation, including a series of gallery interventions at the Corcoran and the National Gallery, open studio hours, faculty-class led engagements and podcasts over the next three years.
The October inaugural events will feature performances, talks, installations, workshops on billboard and kite-making and a procession from the National Gallery to the Corcoran. For Freedoms’ billboards will be on view alongside their first monograph, For Freedoms: Where Do We Go From Here?, and photos of installations from all 50 states.
“At For Freedoms we believe the best art is visionary not reactionary, that it builds community, provokes reflection, and charts a pathway toward personal and collective transformation. We are so excited to be in joint residency at GW’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design and the National Gallery of Art,” said Eric Gottesman, co-founder of For Freedoms. “This opportunity will give us the space to imagine what a visionary culture of civic joy might look like decades from now, in a future artists already inhabit and one that society depends on artists’ vision to realize.”
In the newly renovated galleries on the second floor of Corcoran’s Flagg Building, artists will facilitate an engagement room, a working space filled with prompts and questions to inspire conversations and action with activations to follow throughout D.C.
This year, artists, faculty and students will also work with the National Gallery to develop programming that creates accessible audience engagement with the museum’s expansive collection. Throughout the residency, artists will create collaborative spaces at both institutions to enrich and reimagine traditional museum practices.
“This partnership reflects the shared belief in our institutions that art can act as a tool for civic and creative engagement,” said Kate Haw, executive officer for exhibitions, programs and audience engagement at the National Gallery of Art. “The For Freedoms residency ushers in the next phase of our collaboration with the Corcoran School, provides a unique opportunity for experimental learning and creative exploration across our communities and supports the National Gallery’s expanding work with living artists.”