A gathering of artists, academics and cultural institutions transforming our political landscape through creative civic engagement.

For Freedoms—a national platform and collective for creative citizenship and discourse founded by visual artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman—staged its first ever convening, the For Freedoms Congress (FFCON) from February 28 to March 1, 2020 in Los Angeles, to build a collective artists’ platform for public action and to create plans to supercharge civic engagement in their communities leading up to 2020 Presidential Election.

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For Freedoms Congress (FFCON) 2024 was a unique gathering of artists, cultural institutions, organizations and civic leaders transforming our social and political landscape. FFCON 2024 included a participatory and action-oriented day of programming at LACMA designed to revolutionize the meaning of collaboration, empowering partners new and old to connect, learn from one another, and inspire voter turnout. The aim was to amplify some of today’s leading artistic visionaries and fortify our national creative network and foundation for civic life for this election and beyond.

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Participants from all 50 states and Puerto Rico included artistic collaborators, institutional and organizational partners and funders. For five days, participants convened in downtown Los Angeles to take part in nearly 70 workshops, panel discussions, film screenings, meditations, actions, art installations and performances programmed to fortify, maintain, and activate the civic infrastructure of creativity. In addition, a series of four Town Halls and a day of programming at Hammer museum were opened to the public and presented free of charge. Over 500 participants and nearly 80 artists participated.

2020

‍First Congress: February 28 – March 1, 2020 (Los Angeles, CA)

2024

‍Second Congress: September 26 – 29, 2024 (Los Angeles, CA)

TEAM

Co-Founders: Hank Willis Thomas, Eric Gottesman, Michelle Woo, Wyatt Gallery

Operations & Development: Trish Lombardo

Producers: Jun Mabuchi, Carly Heywood, Taylor Brock

: THE OFFICE was engaged by For Freedoms to produce the convening and manage all the logistics for the conference

Press

ArtNet: Opinion: In One Month, For Freedoms Will Stage the Largest Congress of Creatives in America’s History. Will You Join Us?

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