SITE SANTA FE and New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence team up to present For Freedoms town hall meeting on gun violence prevention. Across the country, For Freedoms is helping to organize a 50 state initiative to advocate civic participation through town halls on topics that effect are effecting our country.

Moderated by Mayor Alan Webber

Participants include:

Brian Egolf, Speaker of the House, NM Legislature

Lt. Michelle Williams, Santa Fe Police Department

Sheila Lewis, New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Santa Fe Safe

Miranda Viscoli, co-president of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence

Carolyn “Bentli” VeneKlasen, Gun Violence survivor

Sophie Lussiez and Brannon Selestewa, Student activists on gun violence prevention

For Freedoms

We believe citizenship is defined by participation, not by ideology. Through non-partisan nationwide programming, we use art as as vehicle for participation to deepen public discussions on civic issues and core values. We are a hub for artists, arts institutions, and citizens who want to be more engaged in public life.

History

Founded in 2016 by artists Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman, For Freedoms is a platform for creative civic engagement, discourse, and direct action. Inspired by American artist Norman Rockwell’s paintings of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms (1941)—freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear—For Freedoms’ exhibitions, installations, and public programs use art to deepen public discussions on civic issues and core values, and to advocate for equality, dialogue, and civic participation.

As a nexus between art, politics, commerce, and education, For Freedoms aims to inject anti-partisan, critical thinking that fine art requires into the political landscape through programming, exhibitions, and public artworks. In 2018, For Freedoms launched the 50 State Initiative: the largest creative collaboration in U.S. history.