2018

public art about the rental housing crisis in the United States

American Jesus will shoot you with thoughts and prayers

polar bear balancing on an iceberg painted by environmental artist Gwenn Seemel

yawning lion image drawn in marker on paper

Amy Sherald portrait drawing by Gwenn Seemel

LBI artist Nita Shapiro painted by Jersey artist Gwenn Seemel

fine art portrait of a ninety year old woman with flowers

fairy pig art by whimsical artist Gwenn Seemel

mum paintng by French artist Gwenn Seemel

trillium painting by Oregon artist Gwenn Seemel

Kaity Gmitter portrait painted by LBI artist Gwenn Seemel

llama drawing by wildlife artist Gwenn Seemel

pansy art by American painter Gwenn Seemel

periwinkle illustration by flower artist Gwenn Seemel

2018 was a struggle emotionally because of the everyday cruelty of the Trump administration. Unlike 2017, during which my political art was mostly about the 45^th POTUS and his racism, in 2018 I tried to focus more on making commentary about issues, like global warming and gun control as well as the rental housing crisis in the US.

Gwenn Seemel, artist for Make Room USA — photo by Gwenn Seemel

This last involved me going to DC to create public art for the Make Room, an advocacy group that commissioned eleven artists from across the country to represent the eleven million households that are one paycheck away from homelessness. The work was first installed throughout Washington in various locations for a few weeks and then, in October and November it was displayed at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. For more about the project, check out this video.

Gwenn Seemel speaking at a conference in Montreal — photo by the Association pour le Développement Technologique en Éducation

I was also in Montreal in May to do a talk about creativity and copyright at the 5e Colloque de l’Association pour le Développement Technologique en Éducation. Here is an English language version of that lecture.