A More Perfect Union
A Private Showing and Reception
at
The National Museum of American History
Thursday, September 28th
From 6:30-9pm
Special Guest Speaker – legendary labor organizer Dolores Huerta
We’re delighted to invite you to join us for a reception and special opportunity to view an art exhibition that speaks to the work we do at Democracy Forward and to connect with friends and colleagues. The exhibit, “A More Perfect Union: American Artists and the Current of Our Time” launched this spring in Athens, Greece at the Partners in Democracy Symposium where Skye spoke at the invitation of the US Embassy in Athens. It has spent the summer traveling across the world and will finish its tour here in Washington DC this fall.
We are incredibly grateful to have been able to secure a private showing of the exhibit on September 28 as well as to have the museum to ourselves that evening to provide a place to connect with friends, advocates, and colleagues at this critical moment in the fight for democracy.
Please RSVP here or through your digital invitation by September 22nd – you will need to be on the guest list to be admitted.
Can’t attend but want to hear more about the evening? Please follow us on IG, X (Twitter), FB and Threads. We’ll be posting about the evening.
Art in Embassies
2023 marks the 60th Anniversary of the Office of Art in Embassies. The Democracy Collection initiative will bring art diplomacy for democracy to every hemisphere through artist exchanges, traveling exhibitions, civic engagements, events at cultural institutions, and an outreach program to expand AIE’s diplomatic art repository at the service of U.S. diplomats for generations to come.
At the U.S. Department of State Summit for Democracy in December 2021, President Joseph Biden declared, “Democracy doesn’t happen by accident. We have to defend it, fight for it, strengthen it, renew it.” At that same Summit, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken called upon fellow democratic nations to develop action plans for strengthening democracy around the world, saying, “Democracy is facing a moment of reckoning.” The Democracy Collection initiative, marking 60 years of Art in Embassies, is a project of the Summit for the Democracy convened regularly by the President and the Secretary of State.
Read more about the More Perfect Union exhibition here.
Curious about Skye’s experience at the Partners in Democracy Symposium? Read more:
We’re delighted to be joined this evening by Dolores Huerta, the President of the Dolores Huerta Foundation. Her lifelong journey has been working as a community organizer and social justice activist for over 50 years.
Dolores is a two time United States Presidential Award Recipient; she received the Medal of Freedom Award from President Obama in 2012, the highest civilian award in the United States, and the Eleanor D. Roosevelt Human Rights Award from President Clinton in 1998.
Huerta has played a major role in the American civil rights movement. Most notably she co-founded the United Farm Workers (UFW) with Cesar Chavez advocating for farm workers in this country. She is a founding board member of the Feminist Majority Foundation; she also serves on the board of Ms. Magazine. Numerous awards include the Ohtli award from the Mexican Government, the James Smithson Award from the Smithsonian Institution, the Icons of the American Civil Rights Movement Award, bestowed to her in 2011 by the National Civil Rights Museum. She also was named Ms. Magazine’s one of the three most important women of 1997, the Ladies Home Journal’s 100 most important woman of the 20th Century, she is a recipient of the Puffin Foundation award for Creative Citizenship as a Labor Leader in 1984, the Kern County woman of the year by the California State legislature, among many other accolades. She is a former UC Regent and has earned nine honorary doctorates from universities throughout the United States. Her most recent recognitions include her induction to the U. S. Department of Labor Hall of Honor. Dolores was also the first Latina inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame.
As one of the most famous and celebrated Latinas in the US, Huerta has been an advocate for social justice, women’s rights, and reproductive freedom and LBGT civil rights. She continues working to develop community leaders to advocate for the working poor, immigrants, women and youth through her work with the Dolores Huerta Foundation. She speaks at universities and conference forums on issues of public policy, social justice, and advocacy influencing thousands of young people to serve their communities.
For more information visit www.doloreshuerta.org
FAQ
How do I get into the museum?
Please enter through the Constitution Avenue entrance, between 12th and 14th Streets NW. You will have to check in and pass through security. The event is on the 2nd floor just steps from Flag Hall.
Is there parking at the museum?
Unfortunately no, but there are many lots nearby. Please note that some of them can close as early as 7pm.
Where do I RSVP?
You can RSVP through the digital invite that was emailed to you by Friday, September 22nd. We will need all names on the attendance list. If you didn’t receive an invite or are have additional questions about RSVP’ing, please reach out to Rachel at Democracy Forward (events@democracyforward.org).
I have additional questions – is there someone who can help me?
Please contact Rachel at Democracy Forward (events@democracyforward.org) for more information.