Co-Initiators
 

First realized in Stockholm, Sweden in 2010, the collective readings of I want a president… were conceived and initiated by artists Malin Arnell, Kajsa Dahlberg, Johanna Gustavsson and Fia-Stina Sandlund. Together, they continue to coordinate readings in collaboration with international partners, while individually pursuing their own artistic practices. Please visit their websites to learn more about their work.

CO-ORganizers, DC
 

Natalie Campbell and Saisha Grayson are co-organizing the D.C. reading with the help of many other members of D.C.'s creative and activist communities. 

Natalie Campbell is an independent curator and arts worker active in DC and New York. She studied Art History at Hunter College CUNY and currently is a lecturer in Art History at the Corcoran School of Arts + Design at George Washington University. She has curated exhibitions at venues including Smack Mellon, Nicole Klagsbrun Gallery and the Center for Book Arts in New York, as well as numerous temporary, collaborative, and publication-based projects outside of traditional exhibition spaces.

Saisha Grayson is a curator, writer, art historian and teacher focused on the intersections of contemporary art, feminist politics, and cultural activism. She organized, co-organized and assisted on numerous exhibition as the Brooklyn Museum's first Assistant Curator for the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, and is currently finishing her dissertation at the Graduate Center, CUNY with a residency fellowship in D.C. 

Producing Partner, DC
 

FURTHERMORE is an artist-run organization founded in 2010, initially as a digital print studio focused on contemporary art editions in collaboration with artists, curators, and institutions. Since then, it has grown into a research, design, and cultural production incubator supporting education, new media, independent publishing, as well as social and community-based practices. More information here.

PRoject Assistant, DC
 

Alex Oliva is a cultural producer and social facilitator originally from Miami, now found floating ideas between D.C. and Baltimore. She supports community-based art initiatives and studies the cultural economy of art and urbanism

COMMUNITY PARTNERS, DC
 

I want a president… (a collective reading - DC) is being presented in collaboration with Anacostia Arts Center, Bread for the City, Creative Time Summit, the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, The Coven DC, the DC Public Library Foundation, Pleasant Plains Workshop, Potter’s House, Transformer, Visual AIDS, What's Going On Shaw, and a growing list of community partners.

Originating Artist
 

The original text that inspired these readings, I want a president... was written by artist Zoe Leonard in 1992. Leonard is one of the most highly regarded artists working today, with a solo show at the Museum of Modern Art, NY in 2015 and a recipient of the Bucksbaum Award at the Whitney Biennial in 2014. She is deeply respected within the arts community both for her powerful, poetic work in photography, sculpture and installation, and for her decades-long commitment to cultural activism. At the time this text first appeared, posted anonymously along NYC streets, Leonard was an active member of ACT-UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) and had recently helped found Fierce Pussy, a lesbian feminist activist art collective, which also used cultural tools to fight for social change.