For Freedoms – Alabama Art Exhibit Opening at Central Library October 28

What: For Freedoms – Alabama art exhibit 

When: Sunday, October 28, 2018, through Friday, January 25, 2019
Where: Central Library Fourth Floor Gallery
Details: For Freedoms – Alabama is free and open to the public during Central Library operating hours. Call 205-226-3601 for more information or visit www.forfreedoms.org.

The Birmingham Public Library (BPL) is hosting a new art exhibit that is part of a non-partisan, nationwide campaign using art as a means to inspire civic participation by celebrating freedoms in advance of the 2018 midterm elections. For Freedoms – Alabama will open on Sunday, October 28, 2018, in the Central Library Fourth Floor Gallery and be free and open to the public through Friday, January 25, 2019.

Curated by Paul Barrett, the exhibit includes paintings, photographs, prints, and mixed media works from Alabama artists: Lanette Blankenship, Becky Delgado, Carey Fountain, Frances Hackney, Ira Hill, Josh Hoggle, Angela Hollowell, Devonte Holt, Holland Hopson, illartpeace; Kiante Johnson, Tara Stallworth Lee, Leanna Leithauser-Lesley, Elizabeth Limbaugh, Erin London, Meghan Malone, Isaac Nunn, Amber Quinn, Meroe Rei, Jared Ragland, Carl Schinasi; Don Stewart, Chris Wade, and Collin Williams.

Barrett said after working with BPL on his One In Our Blood collaboration with the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, Birmingham Museum of Art, and UAB School of Medicine last year, it was important to bring this new discussion between Alabama artists and the public to the Fourth Floor Gallery.

“Libraries are our best community resource for facts and news and continue to provide critical spaces for constructive dialogue,” Barrett said. “With local partners including Alabama Center for Architecture, Birmingham Museum of Art, Ground Floor Contemporary, UAB Institute for Human Rights, and dozens more statewide, it’s an honor to partner with For Freedoms to present this exhibition.”

For additional information about For Freedoms, visit www.forfreedoms.org and follow the 50 State Initiative on Instagram and Facebook. For Freedoms was founded by artists in 2016 as a platform for civic engagement, discourse, and direct action in the United States. The exhibit was inspired by Norman Rockwell’s 1943 paintings of the four universal freedoms articulated by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1941—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear. For Freedoms uses art to deepen public discussions of civic issues and core values, and to clarify that citizenship in American society is dependent on participation, not ideology. The 50 State Initiative (including Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico) is the largest creative collaboration in the history of this country, with For Freedoms’ 200-plus institutional partners bringing together artists and community leaders across the country through exhibitions and town hall meetings, and public billboard projects.