Art Works for Change strives to harness the transformative power of art to promote awareness, provoke dialogue, and inspire action. We seek to address issues of serious concern—human rights, social justice, gender equity, environmental stewardship and sustainability—in creative, inspiring, and ultimately positive ways by engaging with audiences fully, creating experiences that are at once emotional, intellectual, and sensory. In each community hosting an exhibit, we partner with local organizations to create related programming that leverages the artwork to foster dialogue and build awareness of the issues addressed. In this way, our exhibitions serve as a crucible where artists, museums, advocacy organizations, and local community may unite as a collective force for change.

Art Works for Change creates traveling exhibitions of national and international scope, addressing issues that are both urgent and universal. The data show that our work reaches substantial audiences, cutting across the divisions of race, class, age, and culture more thoroughly than do traditional museum art exhibitions. At a number of host museums, for example, Art Works for Change exhibitions have diversified audience demographics by as much as 20 percent, and a significant number of the attendees were either first-time or infrequent museum goers. One of our recent exhibitions, Off the Beaten Path, has been seen by more than 300,000 people. Another, the Nature of Cities exhibition at the Shanghai Expo, was seen by more than 600,000 people, approximately half of whom were children and young people. In addition to the physical venues, our exhibitions are also available online.

We work with both emerging and renowned artists. Our geographically diverse artists are invited for their capacity to hold an expansive vision, to create content-driven artwork, and to achieve artistic excellence, as well as for their recognition within the international art community. Their work ranges from video installation performance art to the more traditional forms of painting, photography, and sculpture. We see our artists as visionaries and as storytellers. Lyrically and emphatically, the stories they tell both reflect our own experiences and offer fresh insights, translating and transforming our worldview, broadening our horizons. Art utilizes a rich set of tools, from irony to allegory, beauty to provocation, metaphor to humor, helping us envision a more positive future.

With the support of our venues, we bring global issues to local communities. Our exhibitions appear in some of the world’s leading museums and art institutions. We use the exhibitions as a physical platform and forum for community to create programming, partnership outreach, and a public action component to each exhibition.

Art Works for Change is registered in the United States as a tax-exempt 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. Our exhibitions are funded by forward-thinking companies, foundations, and individuals who support our mission. In addition, each of our participating venues pays a participation fee that helps cover costs.