Organizer Information
Art at a Time Like This (ATLT) was founded on March 17, 2020 by independent curators Barbara Pollack and Anne Verhallen. ATLT is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit arts organization that serves artists and curators facing the 21st century, presenting art in direct response to current events. Utilizing digital and public platforms, the organization presents art in a non-profit context, highlighting art as an invaluable conveyor of content rather than a commodity, with a mission to show that art can make a difference and that artists and curators can be thought-leaders envisioning alternative futures for humanity. Its inaugural online exhibition drew over 150,000 viewers across more than 100 countries. Since then, ATLT has mounted numerous public art projects and exhibitions, including Before Silence: Afghan Artists in Exile in collaboration with PEN America's Artists at Risk Connection, and Face Reality: Ukrainian Artists Under Siege in collaboration with the Kyiv-based arts organization Izolyatsia. ATLT's first public art project consisted of 20 billboards across New York City's five boroughs in partnership with Save Art Space.
Title & Description
Take One Action — Open Call
Art at a Time Like This (ATLT) invites artists to submit proposals for Take One Action, a public art campaign taking place throughout New York City. The campaign calls on artists to explore how their creative practice can support democratic freedoms amid widespread authoritarianism, seeking artworks that communicate one clear, concrete action New York City residents can take to help protect democracy at a local or national level. The artwork must address a major issue and offer step-by-step actions that are attainable for broad audiences. Selected artists will have their work wheat-pasted across New York City, with additional works featured in an accompanying virtual exhibition described as a repository of hope and a resource for social justice.
Theme
Proposed actions and visual artworks must respond to urgent civic, social, and environmental concerns, including threats to voting rights, freedom of expression, reproductive freedom, racial injustice, access to equitable education, immigrant and LGBTQ+ rights, labor organizing, and ecological repair. The campaign frames itself as a call-and-response between the public and government, prompting artists to use visual practice to present concrete, achievable actions that everyday people can take toward protecting democracy.
Categories
- Public Art
- Street Art
- Visual Arts
- Art
- Culture
- Interdisciplinary Arts
Eligibility
- Open call to artists; no nationality, age, or career-stage restriction stated in the source
- Selected artists for the public art component present their work alongside invited artists Robert Longo, Sasha Styles, and Shawn Leonardo
Program Benefits & Awards
- $1,000 honorarium for artists selected for the public art component
- Selected artworks wheat-pasted across New York City in Fall 2026, around the midterm elections
- Inclusion in an accompanying virtual exhibition functioning as an online repository and resource library
- Selected artists present their work alongside artists Robert Longo, Sasha Styles, and Shawn Leonardo
Application Fee
None
How to Apply?
Online Application
Key Dates
- Application Deadline: 30 August 2026
Location
New York City, United States
Additional Details
- Open call jurors: Barbara Pollack and Anne Verhallen
- Take One Action operates as a wheatpaste campaign using public space in New York City's Lower Manhattan to display art posters that interact with passersby
- The initiative describes itself as finding common ground with social realist and radical art movements, framing the project within a tradition of art as a liberatory tool
- The virtual exhibition component is intended to function as a lasting repository of hope and a resource library documenting social movements