Claiming Public Space for Human Rights

For over a dozen years, Leslie Thomas, founding executive and creative director of ART WORKS Projects,  has curated and directed multi-media exhibitions and public projections.  She will present a sample of these along with a film excerpt from her soon to be released documentary, The Prosecutors, and discuss the role of the arts in ending grave crimes.

Thomas is also an architect, Emmy-award winning art director, and mother.  Current projects include directing The Prosecutors, a documentary about the prosecution of rape in war, co-editing a book of photography on the impact of war on children, and designing a variety of buildings in the Midwest and California.  She is a graduate of Columbia University and the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service.  Her multi-media human rights focused work has toured across five continents and been the recipient of grants from The National Endowment for the Arts, the MacArthur Foundation, the Open Society Foundation, and many other major philanthropic institutions.  She is committed to the use of art and design for public good and proudly sits on the board of Congo Kids Initiative.