Help the Democrats: Bid on a Warhol, a Rothko or a Lichtenstein

[struggle4progress]

<snip>
Artists, art galleries and wealthy collectors are contributing more than 170 works for an auction June 29 in New York to raise money for two pro-Democratic groups, America Coming Together and the political action committee ARTS PAC, that will use the cash for voter mobilization and other election-year efforts.

"Join artists and friends in saying 'Bye-Bye Bush' and help to elect Democratic candidates at the federal, state and local levels," an event flier says.

One artist behind the auction is Chuck Close, a New York-based photorealist painter who sought the donated works. The sentiment among several artists, according to Close, is that the Bush administration's anti-terrorism efforts, epitomized by the Patriot Act, are endangering civil rights, including artistic freedom.

"The Republican Party seems to want to be perceived as having a lock on patriotism and I think it's really a mistake for Democrats to give up the whole issue of patriotism. It's just a different notion of what it is," said Close, who expects some donations will carry patriotic themes. "I think a commitment to a free and open society is the ultimate patriot act."
<snip>

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/michigan/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?a0487_BC_ArtofPolitics&&news&election2004