Reimagining the Four Freedoms

The Norman Rockwell Museum calls on artists working in all media to reimagine the four essential freedoms enunciated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Want, and Freedom from Fear. Approximately 30 works will be selected for inclusion in the national/international traveling exhibition, Enduring Ideals: Rockwell, Roosevelt & the Four Freedoms, opening at the New-York Historical Society in summer 2018. Additional submissions will be available on the exhibition website and in other online media.

Artists are asked to consider how notions of freedom as presented in Roosevelt's and Rockwell's Four Freedoms might be reinterpreted for contemporary times, and what freedom looks like today. Artworks may be created in any medium, including painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, digital media, virtual reality, audio-visual, and mixed media. Artists must submit a detailed artist statement representing the concept of the work and clear visual representation. A maximum of twelve images may be submitted, with no more than five examples of overall body of work; additional images should represent the intended submission. Artworks should be vertical in orientation and adhere to a standard support size of 16" wide x 20" high for two-dimensional objects, and no larger than 16" high x 16" wide x 16" deep for sculpture. Contact Jana Purdy at [email protected] for concepts that do not adhere to these dimensions.

Selected artworks will be framed, insured, and transported by the Norman Rockwell Museum. Three artworks will receive awards of $1,500 each as best-in-show. Artists will be notified of jury selection on July 28, 2017. Images of finished artworks are due December 15, 2017. Final notification regarding exhibition placement (traveling exhibition or digital platforms) will be provided January 19, 2018. Selected artworks must be available for travel to all exhibition venues from 2018 to 2020. Entry fee is $25. The exhibition will travel to New-York Historical Society (May-September 2018), The Henry Ford (October-December 2018), George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum (February-April 2019), Caen Memorial Museum in Normandy, France (June-October 2019), Museum of Fine Arts Houston (December 2019-March 2020), and Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, MA (June-October 2020).