COOL CULTURE x HANK WILLIS THOMAS’S FOR FREEDOMS
As part of the launch of our partnership with For Freedoms, an organization and advocacy initiative established in 2016 by artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman as a platform for civic engagement, discourse, and direct action for artists across the United States, Cool Culture took over the For Freedoms Instagram account during the Bring the Cool family festival on Saturday, June 16. This introduced For Freedom’s Instagram followers to our organization and our strategic partnerships with cultural institutions. It also allowed us showcase how the success of the Bring the Cool family event is a result of collaboration with long-time partners such as the Brooklyn Museum, which create opportunities for families to engage with the arts and to visit museums often for the first time.
Participating families and members of the general public were invited to stop by our Bring the Cool photo booth to answer one of three For Freedoms Prompts: “Freedom For . . . ,“Freedom To . . . ,“ “Freedom Of . . . ,” and to take a photo with their response. Select photos and responses were posted to For Freedoms social media accounts.
Up next, Cool Culture will partner with For Freedoms this fall for the launch of their 50 state initiative, which engages artists and art organizations in promoting the role of arts in civic engagement through billboard campaigns and community “conversations.” We are still solidifying details.
Cool Culture seeks to establish and cultivate relationships with like-minded arts and social justice organizations and individuals as a way of deepening our impact, using the arts as a tool for social change, and more. This opportunity allows us to accomplish all this, as well as to continue to cultivate relationships with artists.