men in landscape looking through telescope Our Story

Art Works for Change was established in 2008 to expand upon the efforts of a team of dedicated artists and social change leaders who since 2005 had produced a series of acclaimed traveling museum exhibitions focused on social and environmental themes. Art Works for Change was founded by Randy Jayne Rosenberg, who brings more than 30 years of experience both as an artist and as a curator for a wide range of corporate, health care, government, and institutional art collections and exhibitions.

Our Mission

Art Works for Change strives to harness the transformative power of art to promote awareness, provoke dialogue, and inspire action. We seek to address issues of serious concern—human rights, social justice, gender equity, environmental stewardship and sustainability—in creative, inspiring, and ultimately positive ways by engaging with audiences fully, creating experiences that are at once emotional, intellectual, and sensory. In each community hosting an exhibit, we partner with local organizations to create related programming that leverages the artwork to foster dialogue and build awareness of the issues addressed. In this way, our exhibitions serve as a crucible where artists, museums, advocacy organizations, and local community may unite as a collective force for change.

Our Exhibitions

Art Works for Change creates traveling exhibitions of national and international scope, addressing issues that are both urgent and universal. The data show that our work reaches substantial audiences, cutting across the divisions of race, class, age, and culture more thoroughly than do traditional museum art exhibitions. At a number of host museums, for example, Art Works for Change exhibitions have diversified audience demographics by as much as 20 percent, and a significant number of the attendees were either first-time or infrequent museum goers. One of our recent exhibitions, Off the Beaten Path, has been seen by more than 300,000 people. Another, the Nature of Cities exhibition at the Shanghai Expo, was seen by more than 600,000 people, approximately half of whom were children and young people. In addition to the physical venues, our exhibitions are also available online.

Our Artists

We work with both emerging and renowned artists. Our geographically diverse artists are invited for their capacity to hold an expansive vision, to create content-driven artwork, and to achieve artistic excellence, as well as for their recognition within the international art community. Their work ranges from video installation performance art to the more traditional forms of painting, photography, and sculpture. We see our artists as visionaries and as storytellers. Lyrically and emphatically, the stories they tell both reflect our own experiences and offer fresh insights, translating and transforming our worldview, broadening our horizons. Art utilizes a rich set of tools, from irony to allegory, beauty to provocation, metaphor to humor, helping us envision a more positive future.

Our Venues

With the support of our venues, we bring global issues to local communities. Our exhibitions appear in some of the world’s leading museums and art institutions. We use the exhibitions as a physical platform and forum for community to create programming, partnership outreach, and a public action component to each exhibition.

Our Funding

Art Works for Change is registered in the United States as a tax-exempt 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. Our exhibitions are funded by forward-thinking companies, foundations, and individuals who support our mission. In addition, each of our participating venues pays a participation fee that helps cover costs.