Who We Are
Art has always been at the core of the progressive movement. From the iconic photography of the civil rights movement to the work of Act Up during the AIDS crisis, art and artists have been central to the movement building work that powers our progress as a nation. From our founding by renowned television producer Norman Lear, People For the American Way has been a believer in the power of art to change the world, and we’re continuing that work today.
Our Artists For the American Way program focuses on building a community of authors, visual artists, filmmakers, playwrights, actors, dancers, and culture makers who are dedicated to using their talents and working together to fight for Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
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What We Do
Of, for, and by artists and culture makers, Artists For the American Way connects artists with the activists, policymakers, and movements fighting for the issues they care about. Legislation and popular opinion are changed through our emotional connection to the issues and people that they effect. Our artists help mobilize voters, push back against censorship, and fight bigotry and oppression through creativity, self expression, and storytelling.
What We’ve Accomplished
In 2022, our Georgia Art Project featured original artwork on strategically located billboards, to turn out the vote and defeat Herschel Walker and Brian Kemp.
Visual artists took part in our 2020 Enough of Trump campaign, with works responding to Trump’s inflaming of racial tensions, encouraging of violent and deadly policing, and failure to address the Covid-19 pandemic. The images were displayed on billboards across key counties in swing states, printed on face masks, and as posters on store windows shuttered by Covid.
One of our most famous collaborations was with actor Gregory Peck, who narrated our ad opposing Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork in 1987.
