ART WORKS Projects | 15 Years Advocating for Human Rights | ART WORKS Projects

16 years

advocating for

human rights

Image: A CITY IN LIMBO by Brittany Greeson

Exhibition Opening:

Borders Cruzadas:
A Collaborative Exploration of Migration

Date: June 20, 2024, 5:30 – 8pm

Location: Glass Curtain Gallery, Columbia College Chicago (1104 S Wabash)

Join ART WORKS Projects for the launch of Wil Sands and Oscar B. Castillo’s exhibition, Borders Cruzadas: A Collaborative Exploration of Migration. This opening event marks the culmination of Castillo and Sand’s year-long residency through the 2023–2024 Diane Dammeyer Fellowship in Photographic Arts and Social Issues, which furthered their work on their ongoing documentation of the migrant experience.

Borders Cruzadas compiles documentary photography, research, and conversations to present both the physical and the symbolic boundaries that form America’s borders. At this special event we will hear from Castillo and Sands in conversation with Steve Bynum, DEI Manager for WBEZ and AWP Board Member. The exhibition at Glass Curtain Gallery will run from June 20 – August 8, and will include a satellite exhibition at Pueblo Unido Gallery which launches on June 28.

Oscar Castillo & Wil Sands for Borders Cruzadas: Collaborative Exploration of Migration

Emmanuel Guillén Lozano, 2016 Emerging Lens Fellow

AWP Presents:

Eight Years of Emerging Lens at 2024 Photoville FESTIVAL

The Emerging Lens Fellowship is ART WORKS Projects’ signature program, highlighting and celebrating global and community-centered photojournalism by supporting new and early career documentary photographers.

AWP will be exhibiting work from the Emerging Lens Fellowship at the 13th annual Photoville Festival in New York City from June 1–16, 2024. Featured photographers include our 2022-23 fellows Astrig Agopian and Mustaga Saeed, along with early fellows Mark Anthony Brown Jr., Megan Farmer, Brittany Greeson, Emmanuel Guillén Lozano, Isadora Kosofsky, and Rachel Woolf. Opening weekend will be June 1st and 2nd in Brooklyn Bridge Park. Learn more about Photoville and AWP’s exhibition, Emerging Lens: Safety, Visibility, Justice, and a Hope for the Futur e.

Featured Event

Storytelling that informs Policy

On June 7, AWP, in partnership with The Refugee and Forced Displacement Initiative (RAFDI) at The Wilson Center hosted a symposium titled: Storytelling that Informs Policy: Addressing Refugees and Forced Displacement.

This event took place at The Hague Humanity Hub as part of The Hague’s Justice Week events across the city.

Guests at the event had a chance to view AWP’s exhibition, Stories Across Borders, which is on view at the Hague Humanity Hub through June 23.

You can watch a video recording of the event and learn more on our event page.

Storytelling that Informs Policy: Addressing Refugees and Forced Displacement at The Hague Humanity Hub

Jean Chung for Women between Peace and War: Afghanistan

16 Years, 30+ Projects

ART WORKS Projects leverages the power of photography and documentary film to raise awareness and educate the public about some of the most pervasive and grave human rights violations.

Since ART WORKS launched 16 years ago, we’ve supported more than 30 projects documenting stories around the world.

our timeline

2006 | AWP opens with traveling exhibit “DARFUR/DARFUR” to 25 international cities.

2011 | “Horn of Africa” opens at George Washington University

Person standing in the center surrounded by a group, all looking towards the camera. — 2012 | AWP partners with SAPPI, Ideas That Matter, and UNWOMEN to produce exhibit "Women Between Peace and War"

2013 | In honor of World Refugee Day, images from “Sanctuary/Sustenance” are displayed in 20 international cities

Child sitting on shoulders of person cheering — 2014 | “Children of Syria” exhibit opens at 625 Gallery; Filming begins for AWP’s first full-feature documentary film, “The Prosecutors”

2015 | Photographer Amanda Rivkin documents the realities of food access through solo exhibit, “Sustenance: Chicago and the Food Chain”

2016 | MacArthur Foundation awards AWP with significant grant to complete post-production work and outreach for “The Prosecutors”

2017 | Emerging Lens recipient, Isadora Kosofky, debuts exhibit, “Vinny & David: Life and Incarceration of a Family,” at 625 Gallery

2018 | Emerging Lens recipient, Rachel Woolf, debuts exhibit, “Deported: An American Division”; The first screening of “The Prosecutors” at the PSVI Conference in London

2019 | Emerging Lens recipient, Megan Farmer, debuts, “Life After a Hate Crime,” with generous funding from the Henry Nias Foundation

2020 | AWP launches digital exhibit, “The Second Wave: Thailand’s Economic Struggle,” documenting the ongoing struggles of Covid-19 on the informal economy

2021 | AWP revisits Flint, MI in the midst of Covid-19 to develop collaborative exhibit, “ECHOES,” showcasing work created by students in the Youth News Movement

Congo/Women at the Russell Senate building

Bring an Exhibit to Your Community

All of our exhibitions are designed to tour and can be adapted to a broad spectrum of venue types and sizes.

We are happy to provide step-by-step support for hosting one of our exhibitions or other projects.

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Support Our Work

Help ART WORKS unlock $50,000 in our year-end donor challenge. Any gift, at any amount will be matched dollar-per-dollar up to $50,000.

Since we launched as a human rights arts advocacy organization in Chicago sixteen years ago, we have made strides in establishing a significant global footprint. Using art to reach hundreds of thousands of viewers, AWP has inspired audience members on five continents to support an end to grave human rights abuses. While we are proud of our impact, we know more essential works needs to be done.