ART WORKS Projects – 15 Years Advocating for Human Rights

16 years

advocating for

human rights

Image: A CITY IN LIMBO by Brittany Greeson

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.

Women between Peace and War: Afghanistan

Congo/Women show 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.

our funders include:

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

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featured Event

Deported: A Family Divided

October 19, 2022

AWP 2017 Emerging Lens Fellow, Rachel Woolf, joined scholars, activists, and advocates to discuss deportation’s multifaceted impacts on families in the US.

Deported: A Family Divided, which has been on exhibit at the Melville Library at Stony Brook University, is the second installation of Woolf’s work with AWP, that chronicles the life of the Quintana-Salazar family as they navigate the deportation policies and their impact on the family.

Panel discussion on Deported: A Family Divided (1 hour 20 min.)

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.