October 2, 2009 – January 2, 2010

Joseph Meert
Struggle, c. 1948
chalk, ink & pen
1994.46
(detail)

The Hermine Haslem Gallery

Events: Opening reception Friday, October 2
in conjunction with First Friday: Red, White and You.

The Swope collection is replete with work by activist artists; this exhibition identifies those artists participating in such causes as civil rights, workers rights, Women’s rights, the environment, the war effort and the peace movement. Many of these artists used their works of art to promote these causes, including: John Sloan, who became the art editor for the socialist magazine, The Masses, 1912-1917; James Henry Daugherty, who designed recruitment posters for the American armed forces in WWI; and Ansel Adams, who crusaded for the preservation of the same wilderness that he revealed through his photographs throughout his career. Others artists, such as Walter Ufer, Jack Levine and Raphael Soyer, were less overt and acted as observers and reporters bearing witness to every day life in America.

This exhibition runs simultaneously with the Heartland Graffiti exhibition. Both exhibitions feature artists committed to connecting with and giving voice to the concerns of the citizenry.