In 1964, Norman Rockwell's Civil Rightsera painting The Problem We All Live With¹ depicted Ruby Bridges, the 6-year-old black girl who entered an all-white school in 1960, walking between deputy U.S. marshals with volleyed tomatoes and a racial slur staining the wall behind her.

In 2015, artist Maggie Meiners reimagined the famous composition to explore the plight of another youth: this time, a Dreamer — a child of undocumented immigrants given temporary protection under the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

In the photo, which she titled Dream Act (2015)², Meiners directed actors and models to depict the scene of a young immigrant girl, standing alone and surrounded by a squadron of U.S. border-patrol agents. While Meiners created the image three years ago, it found new relevance under the current U.S. administration's “Zero Tolerance” policy, enacted this spring, which resulted in immigrant children being separated from their parents at the U.S. border.

Dream Act wasn't Meiners's first Rockwell-inspired work. The artist has long been fascinated by the painter's depictions of 20th-century American life, which charmed and shocked millions in the mid-1900s, and their power to adeptly illustrate an entire era.

In the wake of the 2018 midterm elections, ICP's new exhibition For Freedoms: Where Do We Go From Here? explores the role of art and visual representation in American civic life through the work of the For Freedoms collective. [...]

For Freedoms' stylized scenes of the everyday reference Rockwell's iconic style while bringing new, more inclusive representations of the country to the discussion of our core values.

[...] For Freedoms' exhibitions, installations, and public programs use art to deepen public discussions on civic issues and core values, and to advocate for equality, dialogue, and civic participation.