Fall of Freedom: The Creative Resistance Movement sweeping the US

By Clara Kenny

On November 21st and 22nd, artists across the US participated in Fall of Freedom, an artistic resistance movement against Trump’s authoritarianism. Defining itself as a ‘nationwide wave of creative resistance’, Fall of Freedom is ‘an open invitation to artists, creators, and communities to take part- and to celebrate the experiences, cultures and identities that shape the fabric of our nation.’

Jerry Kearns, Slip Sliding Away, 2025, Painting, New York

Image courtesy of Hyperallergic

The movement was founded by artists Dread Scott and Lynn Nottage in response to, what Nottage calls, ‘the rising tide of fascism.’ Namely, Trump’s recent attacks on prominent artistic institutions across the country. In August, Trump reprimanded the Smithsonian Institution, sending a letter to Smithsonian secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III declaring that a ‘comprehensive internal review’ was needed of eight Smithsonian museums. Trump later declared that he would begin to do to museums ‘the exact same process that has been done with Colleges and Universities’. Fall for Freedom are attempting to push against this control of artistic institutions. Beyond this, the movement is also stepping up against the recent elimination of federal funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, which has resulted in hundreds of art groups across the US being notified of the withdrawal and termination of their grants, and the firing of twenty-two of the twenty-six members of the National Council on the Humanities.

Eric Gottesman, an artist based in Washington D.C., highlights the devastating consequences of Trump’s infringement on artistic institutions. ‘I think in this moment, when arts institutions are paralysed by the real fear of suppression and retribution for ideas that seem critical to the kind of freedom that democracy promises, they're not able to support artists in the way that artists usually expect arts institutions to provide support … and so this creates a gap.’

Fall of Freedom’s resistance against ‘authoritarianism’ is reflected in its announcement of more than 600 events of varying sizes taking place across forty states. An example includes New York exhibition ‘Cancel This Show!’ which gathers work centred around public protest to address the restriction journalists and comedians face from authoritarianism and ultra-nationalism. The exhibition draws inspiration from historic activist exhibitions, like the 1984 Artist Call against US Intervention in Central America, to question the responsibility of the artist in political crisis.

In Philadelphia, Muse Gallery is showing artist Carolyn Harper’s large-scale quilts and hand-embroidered batik portraits that depict incarcerated individuals - many of whom were imprisoned for a crime they did not commit or took no active part in. Her quilts rebel against the systems of oppression and, as Harper describes, the ‘unrelenting mass incarceration [that] tears at the heart’ of American society.

Carolyn Harper, Krissy, 2025, Hand sewn quilt, 60 x 64 inches, Philadelphia

Image courtesy of Carolyn Harper Art

‘An Incomplete Haunting,’ an exhibition curated by Rachel Gugelberg in New York City, opened on November 21st, and features works across multiple mediums. The show explores how art can confront and illuminate the past, resist institutional erasure, and preserve individual histories – challenging the action taken by Trump’s administration against the Smithsonian institution.

Fall of Freedom marks the beginning a wave of cultural resistance emerging across the US. Artists are uniting against the fear and, as Gottesman describes it, ‘paralysis’ that Trump has swept across creative institutions.

Bibliography

American Theatre Editors. “‘Fall of Freedom’ to Unite Artists for Nationwide Creative Resistance.” American Theatre. October 15, 2025. https://www.americantheatre.org/2025/10/15/fall-of-freedom-to-unite-artists-for-nationwide-creative-resistance/.

Blair, Elizabeth. “Wary of Changes under Trump, ‘Citizen Historians’ Are Documenting the Smithsonian.” NPR. September 22, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/09/22/nx-s1-5517973/smithsonian-document-citizen-historians.

Clemente. “Cancel This Show!” The Clemente. October 30, 2025. https://www.theclementecenter.org/exhibitions-1/cancel-this-show.

Fall of Freedom. 2025. Date Accessed November 22, 2025. https://www.falloffreedom.com/.

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Veltman, Chloe. “Sweeping Cuts Hit NEA after Trump Administration Calls to Eliminate the Agency.” NPR. May 3, 2025. https://www.npr.org/2025/05/03/nx-s1-5385888/sweeping-cuts-hit-nea-after-trump-administration-calls-to-eliminate-the-agency.

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