About Art At A Time Like This

Art at a Time Like This is a 501c3 not-for-profit arts organization that serves artists and curators facing the 21st century, presenting art in direct response to current events.

Utilizing digital and public platforms, this organization presents art in a non-profit context, highlighting art as an invaluable conveyor of content,  rather than commodity.  Our mission is to show that art can make a difference and that artists and curators can be thought-leaders, envisioning alternative futures for humanity. 

Art at a Time Like This was founded on March 17, 2020 by independent curators Barbara Pollack and Anne Verhallen who saw the need for a new kind of alternative space to address the pandemic and other crises. We perpetually address the question, ‘How Can We Think of Art at a Time Like This?’  In a series of online exhibitions,  artists and curators have engaged with this question,  from our inaugural exhibition--which attracted over 200,000 viewers in its first three months--to monthly shows confronting not only the pandemic but also Black Lives Matter, systemic justice, the Climate Emergency,  New Delhi’s Farmer Revolution,  gender discrimination, human rights violations in Hong Kong, the fragility of democracy in the US and many other issues. 

Challenging limitations of traditional “white cubes” to address moments of crisis,  Art at a Time Like This activates unconventional public spaces to raise awareness and deliver contemporary art to a wider audience. In the weeks leading up to the 2020 US election,  we instigated two public art projects--a video projection of Jeffrey Gibson’s Nothing Last Forever and Ministry of Truth: 1984/2020, a series of 20 billboards by 20 artists, including Shirin Neshat,  Deb Kass, Marilyn Minter, Abigail de Ville, Dread Scott,  Sue Coe,  Mel Chin and others.  The New York Times recognized the project as “one of the most important moments in art” for 2020. 

Diversity is a key concern for Art at a Time Like This. Our exhibitions highlight the accomplishments of BIPOC, AAPI, LGBTQ and feminist artists and curators as well as many participants from Africa and Asia. Our work has created a repository of today’s most vital and urgent artworks at the juncture of art and politics.