Madonna Announces Art For Freedom Grants Program

NEW YORK, Oct.2, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Madonna has announced a grants program in coordination with Art For Freedom, the global digital initiative designed to fuel free speech, to address, respondand protest persecution around the world.

Madonna kicked off Art For Freedom on September 24, 2013 by posting Secretprojectrevolution, a 17-minute video she created with Steven Klein. The film 'a call to action' - originally premiered on Vice and remains downloadable on Bit Torrent.Artists are encouraged to submit their own work onartforfreedom.comin the form of video, music, poetryorphotography to express their personal meaning of freedom and revolution.

As part of the Art For Freedom initiative, Madonna has launched a grants program to support individuals and organizations working to advance social justice. Over the course of the next year she will select one artist each month whose creative expression helps fight oppression, intolerance and complacency. Madonna will award $10,000 to a nonprofit organization or project of the winning artist's choice. All projects must be focused on a social justice issue and exemplify the values of Art For Freedom.

Madonna will select the winning submission each month with the help of a guest curatorbeginning withAnthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

"I want to help give a creative voice to those who have been silenced and denied their human rights.Art for Freedom is a platform that gives artists a chance to define freedom through theirart.We have already received many incredible submissions.I am inviting all people toexpress their thoughts on the subject of freedom whether it'sdescribingspecific persecutionthey have experienced, sharing how their rights have been violated and / or sharing their ideas creatively regarding fighting injustice," commented Madonna.

Art For Freedom, launched in partnership with Vice,received over 1000 submissionsin the first 48 hours of its inception. Thesesubmissionsand the ones that followwill become part of the Art For Freedom platform and will be eligible for the Arts For Freedom grants program. Contributors can join the project by uploading original artwork at http://www.artforfreedom.com or tagging original posts #artforfreedom.

Press Contact: Liz Rosenberg Liz@Lizrosenbergmedia.com 212-991-4290

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Madonna Announces Art For Freedom Grants Program