In the days after the election of Donald Trump, so many protesters gathered around Trump Tower in Manhattan that police had to monitor Columbus Circle around the clock. For anyone who has read comic books, it was reminiscent of a scene from a Marvel or DC superhero comic.
It wasn’t long after that people started looking to artists for answers. How would artists respond? What would art look like during a Trump administration? Could artists save the day?
Founded during the culture wars, it’s something we think deeply about at Creative Capital. The organization has a strong view that artists will, do, and should drive conversations about the top issues our world faces. We see artists as the superheroes that walk among us. They can make people see things that aren’t always obvious. They shift shapes. They can travel through time and see into the future.
Check out how some of our Creative Capital Awardees are using their superpowers and join us on May 9 when we celebrate them at The Foundry in Long Island City!

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s an artist!

The artistic practices of Elisabeth Streb and the artist collective Bandaloop involve catapulting across space.

Sense beyond human capability!

Miriam Simun began studying the only federally protected flower in New York, whose scent is undetectable to the human nose. Working with botanists and chemists, she was able to manipulate its fragrance and allow other humans to be able to smell it!

Shape Shifters

Narcissister can shift shape as fast as Mystique from the Marvel comic universe. Changing costume in the blink of the eye, her performances are hilarious, beautiful and thoughtful.

They fight for justice

Laurie Jo Reynolds has launched a new discipline of art called “Legislative Art.” In 2007, she collaborated with former and current inmates at Tamms Correctional Center, as well as their families and other artists. The project eventually led to the shutdown of the prison, which was indicative of our increasingly punitive, dehumanizing and counterproductive criminal justice system.

They help us travel through time

Whether it’s the future or the past, artists help us travel time. Artist lauren woods’ project “A Dallas Drinking Fountain,” transformed a public drinking fountain at Dallas County Records into a monument to the Civil Rights movement, allowing people to drink from it only after seeing quick video footage of protests from the 1960s.
Help us celebrate artists as superheroes at our Superpowered Benefit on May 9. Click here for tix.