Since our inception in 2004, we’ve produced public art projects that reflect the concerns of New York communities, and are rooted in the transformative power of art to catalyze change, foster dialogue, and build connections. In 2024, we’re looking toward More Art’s future—the future collaborators, artists, and communities.
Join us in honoring long standing partners—artist Dread Scott and Executive Director of the Lambent Foundation, Michelle Coffey—alongside the unveiling of our 2024 programs.
Let’s embark on this journey together, as we continue to champion the power of art to inspire and unite.
Meet our Honorees
On this momentous anniversary, More Art is proud to honor two essential collaborators and partners in our community of socially engaged artists and practitioners at our 20th Anniversary celebration, Executive Director of the Lambent Foundation Michelle Coffey & artist Dread Scott. Dread & Michelle show us time and again how steadfast dedication and commitment to practicing values-based art empower society to connect and take collective action with and within communities.
Dread Scott |
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Through his practice striving to “propel history forward,” Dread Scott embodies disruptive, captivating principles to push conceptual boundaries and question societal conventions. He creates works in multiple mediums to be viewed within traditional structures and in accessible public functions. We are honored to have collaborated and supported his groundbreaking work for over 10 years. |
Dread Scott, On the Impossibility of Freedom in a Country Founded on Slavery and Genocide, 2014. © Mark Von Holden / Mark Von Holden Photography
In 2014, we collaborated with Dread to produce On the Impossibility of Freedom in a Country Founded on Slavery and Genocide, a powerful performance piece engaging with the legacy of racism in the United States and pointing to the continuing struggles faced by minorities across the nation. Click here to learn more about the project and read on for more about Dread’s work!
Dread Scott is a visual artist whose works is exhibited across the US and internationally. In 1989, his art became the center of national controversy over its transgressive use of the American flag, while he was a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Dread became part of a landmark Supreme Court case when he and others defied a federal law outlawing his art by burning flags on the steps of the U.S. Capitol. He has presented at TED talk on this.
He presented the All African People’s Consulate as part of La Biennale di Venezia in 2024. His work has been included in exhibitions at MoMA PS1, the Walker Art Center, Cristin Tierney Gallery and is in the collection of the Whitney Museum, The National Gallery of Art, and The Metropolatin Museum of Art. He is a 2023 Rome Prize Fellow and has also received fellowships form John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, Open Society Foundations and United States Artists as well as a Creative Capital grant.In 2019 he presented Slave Rebellion Reenactment, a community engaged project that reenacted the largest rebellion of enslaved people in US history. The project was featured in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, Christiane Amanpour on CNN and highlighted by Artnet as one of the most important artworks of the decade.
Michelle Coffey
For our 10th anniversary in 2014, we added a philanthropic award to honor a member of the professional community who has made a palpable and substantial difference in society. On our 20th anniversary, we are pleased to honor Michelle Coffey, who has provided More Art with invaluable strategic guidance and feedback that allows us to support artists with confidence and vision through a specific understanding of More Art’s mission.
Her dedication to welcoming uncertainty and valuing emergent ideas has led the Lambent Foundation to explore the connections between contemporary art and transformative social change. It has been gratifying to find a partner that approaches values and guiding principles with a similar ethos. We are honored to have partnered with and been supported by Michelle for so many years. Read on for more about Michelle’s work!
Left to right: Mabel O. Wilson, Michelle Coffey, and Kendall Henry during “Of Manacles and Monuments Act 1: History, Monuments, and Reframing the Narrative,” a conversation series presented by More Art and the Center for Brooklyn History, 2023. Photo by Wenjun Chen.
Michelle Coffey leads the strategy and drives the vision of Lambent Foundation while mindfully honoring complexity. By nurturing emergent ideas and welcoming uncertainty, Michelle works as an advocate and partner to imagine and build more just and equitable societies.
While working at the Walker Art Center during the 1990s American culture wars, Michelle learned to fuse her work with her personal and political values and respect the interconnections between art, location, and community. Michelle has built on her background in human rights advocacy and philanthropy to develop Lambent’s approach. She served as Director of Starry Night Fund and Senior Philanthropic Advisor at Tides Foundation. Her portfolio spanned global human rights, women and girls, criminal justice reform, arts and culture, and HIV/AIDS. This challenging work alerted Michelle to the vital role of arts and culture in progressive movements. Michelle serves on several national boards, including Grantmakers in the Arts, The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, and Socrates Sculpture Park.
Special Thanks
Special thank you to our community partner Save Section 9
Sponsors
Gifts and awards generously donated by Alessi
Over the years, Alessi has collaborated with over three hundred world-renowned designers and architects, producing thousands of objects, many of which have become icons of contemporary design. Being an emblem of ideational and industrial excellence Alessi has managed to combine the typical industrial needs of the sector with its soul as a “research laboratory on Applied Arts”, open to the development of new creative and cultural horizons.
Thank you to Shoestring Press, for their expert printing of limited edition prints of Noah Fischer’s New York 2044 newspaper; Delaware Phoenix Distillery and PM Spirits for contributions of specialty cocktails for the night; and Unconditional Studio for developing the Twentieth Anniversary Gala design and graphic identity.
About More Art
More Art 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that collaborates with artists across their careers to catalyze social change by producing meaningful participatory public art for a broad audience. We believe art and artists are integral to empowering social justice movements by creatively illuminating social issues, engaging new audiences in activism, and animating public discourse.
More Art, More Agency, More Action
More Art: We believe that art should be free and accessible, and we believe that art empowers all of us.
More Agency: We believe in the self-determination of everyone. Our process is open, grounded, and flexible.
More Action: By providing a platform to experience social issues through art, More Art leads to action that paves the way towards transformation and change.
Explore our public art projects + exhibitions here. Find and apply to our programs for artists here. Contact us with any questions at info@moreart.org.