By Greg Victor, founder, co-organizer
Over the past two years, I and many extraordinarily talented collaborators have been assembling a nonprofit organization called the International Free Expression Project. We launched it into public view in June 2018 with a public spectacle: a projection/light/art production to honor the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in the vast former pressroom of the Pittsburgh Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
IFEP plans to erect the world’s first iconic work of public art dedicated to free expression at the Gateway to Pittsburgh; create a bustling Marketplace of Ideas and International Center for Free Expression in the former Press/Post-Gazette pressroom; commission and showcase the work of artists, institutions and innovators; and invent interactive educational tools to drive home to people, especially young people, the elemental importance of free expression.
Over the past two years, I and many extraordinarily talented collaborators have been assembling a nonprofit organization called the International Free Expression Project. We launched it into public view in June 2018 with a public spectacle: a projection/light/art production to honor the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in the vast former pressroom of the Pittsburgh Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
IFEP plans to erect the world’s first iconic work of public art dedicated to free expression at the Gateway to Pittsburgh; create a bustling Marketplace of Ideas and International Center for Free Expression in the former Press/Post-Gazette pressroom; commission and showcase the work of artists, institutions and innovators; and invent interactive educational tools to drive home to people, especially young people, the elemental importance of free expression.
IFEP’s origin
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette was about to close its historic 1927 building on the Boulevard of Allies two years ago and scrap its former presses to accommodate the property’s redevelopment. Walking along a towering row of press units — stunning examples of 20th-century industrial art — I thought artists would love to work with these silver rollers, golden plates, star-shaped knobs and countless other compelling objects. Surely someone should save some presses to rebuild and some parts for artists.
The former Press/PG site also sits at one of the most beautiful locations in any city anywhere, at Pittsburgh’s front door. From the high ridgeline of Mount Washington that overlooks the Pittsburgh region -- with a scenic view once ranked No. 2 in America by USA Today (behind only the Grand Canyon), the former Press/PG building stands prominently at the entrance to Downtown.
Around this time, journalists, cartoonists, artists, writers, nonconformists and dissidents of every kind were being threatened, jailed and murdered in alarming numbers. Governments were crushing dissent in China, Russia, Turkey ... the list is long. Extremists were slaughtering journalists in Paris, hacking bloggers to death in Bangladesh and terrorizing all who did not subscribe to their uncompromising ideologies. Zealots were destroying historical records, artistic masterpieces and ancient cities, aiming to wipe out entire cultures and silence even the voices of the past.
The former Press/PG site also sits at one of the most beautiful locations in any city anywhere, at Pittsburgh’s front door. From the high ridgeline of Mount Washington that overlooks the Pittsburgh region -- with a scenic view once ranked No. 2 in America by USA Today (behind only the Grand Canyon), the former Press/PG building stands prominently at the entrance to Downtown.
Around this time, journalists, cartoonists, artists, writers, nonconformists and dissidents of every kind were being threatened, jailed and murdered in alarming numbers. Governments were crushing dissent in China, Russia, Turkey ... the list is long. Extremists were slaughtering journalists in Paris, hacking bloggers to death in Bangladesh and terrorizing all who did not subscribe to their uncompromising ideologies. Zealots were destroying historical records, artistic masterpieces and ancient cities, aiming to wipe out entire cultures and silence even the voices of the past.
IFEP evolves
Project Part 1: The availability of historic presses at a place of surpassing beauty at a moment in history of crushing repression led to this idea: Hold an international design competition to create the world’s first iconic work of public art dedicated to a free press and free expression. It would incorporate parts of presses from a publication founded in 1786 that was one of the original newspaper publishers of the Bill of Rights and First Amendment. It would stand as a declaration of resolve by those who believe in free expression at a time it is under grave threat around the world.
Everyone who visited the site — from artists, to public officials, to kids, to business leaders, to philanthropists — were blown away by its location and ambience. Ideas proliferated, cross-pollinated. This person pulled in that person, who pulled in the next person.
Project Part 2: A couple of Andy Warhol museum curators suggested inviting artists and photographers into the pressroom to do their things. They did. Hundreds of works have been produced. IFEP became a sponsor of art and photographs and other creative endeavors.
Project Part 3: As the pressroom was emptied, it filled up with its vastness — several hundred feet long, nearly 50 feet high — and its uniqueness — ink-splattered pillars, beams able to carry 50-ton loads, a rail system for transporting newsprint. And all this was immediately visible to the millions of people who pass by the pressroom’s long stretch of windows each year. From this arose the idea to turn the pressroom into a one-of-a-kind gathering place, a Marketplace of Ideas, featuring rebuilt presses, artworks, food stands, maker spaces, musicians — an explosion of expression.
Project Part 4: How might all this expression be activated to help protect expression? Invent interactive displays, e-games, robots and other educational tools that entertain while driving home the importance of free expression. They could be sprinkled throughout the Marketplace, engaging visitors, road-tested and then made available for teachers and advocacy organizations around the world. Call it the International Center for Free Expression.
Mission: These ideas and activities grew into , an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing creative expression and building public opposition to its suppression.
Niche: There are scores of effective, experienced free-expression advocacy organizations and academic institutions. IFEP will not duplicate their important work; it aims to leverage their work in new high-profile ways that move people to action, especially young people.
Everyone who visited the site — from artists, to public officials, to kids, to business leaders, to philanthropists — were blown away by its location and ambience. Ideas proliferated, cross-pollinated. This person pulled in that person, who pulled in the next person.
Project Part 2: A couple of Andy Warhol museum curators suggested inviting artists and photographers into the pressroom to do their things. They did. Hundreds of works have been produced. IFEP became a sponsor of art and photographs and other creative endeavors.
Project Part 3: As the pressroom was emptied, it filled up with its vastness — several hundred feet long, nearly 50 feet high — and its uniqueness — ink-splattered pillars, beams able to carry 50-ton loads, a rail system for transporting newsprint. And all this was immediately visible to the millions of people who pass by the pressroom’s long stretch of windows each year. From this arose the idea to turn the pressroom into a one-of-a-kind gathering place, a Marketplace of Ideas, featuring rebuilt presses, artworks, food stands, maker spaces, musicians — an explosion of expression.
Project Part 4: How might all this expression be activated to help protect expression? Invent interactive displays, e-games, robots and other educational tools that entertain while driving home the importance of free expression. They could be sprinkled throughout the Marketplace, engaging visitors, road-tested and then made available for teachers and advocacy organizations around the world. Call it the International Center for Free Expression.
Mission: These ideas and activities grew into , an independent nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing creative expression and building public opposition to its suppression.
Niche: There are scores of effective, experienced free-expression advocacy organizations and academic institutions. IFEP will not duplicate their important work; it aims to leverage their work in new high-profile ways that move people to action, especially young people.
IFEP’s support
IFEP has generated enormous political, institutional and individual enthusiasm in its hometown of Pittsburgh, as well as considerable national and international support.
Local supporters include the Pittsburgh mayor, the county executive, The Pittsburgh Foundation, the Henry John Simonds Foundation, the Office of Public Art, curators of Carnegie Museums and several dozen Carnegie Mellon University faculty members and grad students in art, robotics, engineering, architecture and other fields. The list goes on.
IFEP’s expanding and diversifying International Advisory Board so far comprises Pittsburghers Michael Keaton and David McCullough; Svetlana Alexievich, the 2015 Nobel laureate in literature; Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron; news anchor and author Tom Brokaw; Mai Khoi, a Vietnamese singer/activist who was just awarded the 2018 Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent; Omar Rabago Vital, past chair of the International Free Expression Exchange; and Jillian York, director of international free expression for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Friendraisers" have been held in New York and San Francisco. Fundraisers will follow.
Local supporters include the Pittsburgh mayor, the county executive, The Pittsburgh Foundation, the Henry John Simonds Foundation, the Office of Public Art, curators of Carnegie Museums and several dozen Carnegie Mellon University faculty members and grad students in art, robotics, engineering, architecture and other fields. The list goes on.
IFEP’s expanding and diversifying International Advisory Board so far comprises Pittsburghers Michael Keaton and David McCullough; Svetlana Alexievich, the 2015 Nobel laureate in literature; Washington Post executive editor Martin Baron; news anchor and author Tom Brokaw; Mai Khoi, a Vietnamese singer/activist who was just awarded the 2018 Vaclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent; Omar Rabago Vital, past chair of the International Free Expression Exchange; and Jillian York, director of international free expression for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Friendraisers" have been held in New York and San Francisco. Fundraisers will follow.
IFEP’s status
IFEP has purchased 90 tons of presses and commissioned hundreds of photographs and artworks. We went live at midnight June 19, 2018 with our contact/donor database and website (ifep.io). We have a nonprofit fiscal sponsor, New Sun Rising, and expect to incorporate our own organization in two months.
To explore the centerpiece work of public art, we’re beginning to gather artists and experts in energy innovation, smart materials, holographic technology, robotics and other fields to explore the possibility of creating a physical work of public art that can be digitally programmed to appear as almost anything — the Eiffel Tower or falling rain. And generate energy.
As for the former PG property, it is expected to soon be under a sales agreement with a developer who is excited about helping to realize IFEP's ambitions.
As for new educational tools, the first under development is an interactive “EarthTime” machine that would display attacks on free expression globally, in the past and in real time, based on data provided by advocacy and academic partners. Viewers could drill down to explanations of individual cases, with popups suggesting ways to get involved. This powerful technology was developed by Google and the CMU CREATE Lab and is used by organizations around the world, including the World Economic Forum at Davos, to track, analyze and spur action on issues such as urbanization, sea-level rise and refugee flows. IFEP co-organizer Sara Longo and her colleagues at the CREATE Lab now are flowing into EarthTime test data provided by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
IFEP is a nonprofit organization under the auspices of fiscal sponsor New Sun Rising and soon will incorporate as a stand-alone, independent NGO. Having received foundation and individual funding for planning, art projects and events, it soon will seek donations to finance its institutionalization, including staff, operating expenses and both short- and long-term strategic planning.
To explore the centerpiece work of public art, we’re beginning to gather artists and experts in energy innovation, smart materials, holographic technology, robotics and other fields to explore the possibility of creating a physical work of public art that can be digitally programmed to appear as almost anything — the Eiffel Tower or falling rain. And generate energy.
As for the former PG property, it is expected to soon be under a sales agreement with a developer who is excited about helping to realize IFEP's ambitions.
As for new educational tools, the first under development is an interactive “EarthTime” machine that would display attacks on free expression globally, in the past and in real time, based on data provided by advocacy and academic partners. Viewers could drill down to explanations of individual cases, with popups suggesting ways to get involved. This powerful technology was developed by Google and the CMU CREATE Lab and is used by organizations around the world, including the World Economic Forum at Davos, to track, analyze and spur action on issues such as urbanization, sea-level rise and refugee flows. IFEP co-organizer Sara Longo and her colleagues at the CREATE Lab now are flowing into EarthTime test data provided by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
IFEP is a nonprofit organization under the auspices of fiscal sponsor New Sun Rising and soon will incorporate as a stand-alone, independent NGO. Having received foundation and individual funding for planning, art projects and events, it soon will seek donations to finance its institutionalization, including staff, operating expenses and both short- and long-term strategic planning.
Thank you
Thank you for having the interest and taking the time to learn more about the International Free Expression Project. Please explore other parts of our website to better understand what we do, why we do it and how you might help. Enjoy some of our artworks, photographs and renderings. And click on the GET INVOLVED button to donate, receive updates or volunteer.
Again, thank you.
Greg Victor is founder and co-organizer of the International Free Expression Project (ifep.io) and oped/Forum editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. You can reach him at info@ifep.io
Again, thank you.
Greg Victor is founder and co-organizer of the International Free Expression Project (ifep.io) and oped/Forum editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. You can reach him at info@ifep.io
