The process of creating art is a restorative and healing experience for Maggie Meiners, addressing personal issues of mental health and addiction.
Meiners’ works are complemented in this show by three original Norman Rockwell paintings, as well as other archival documents. Central to this exhibition are Meiners’ reinterpretations of Rockwell’s Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom from Fear, and Freedom from Want, which are seen here published in the Saturday Evening Post. These classic paintings have also been recreated in photographs by For Freedoms co-founder Hank Willis Thomas and Emily Shur.
Look closely at these detailed photographs and compare them with Rockwell’s originals from the 1940s and 1950s. What has changed in the world since then? What has stayed the same? Think about the artists’ perspectives on civic engagement, immigration, gun control, religion, gender, racism, and the impact of technology, and talk with the people you came here with about what we can do to protect our fragile freedoms.
Gail Stavitsky, Chief Curator
Alison Van Denend, Assistant Curator