Dear Friend of freeDimensional,

We have known many of you for some time; others I recently met at meetings of artist residency programs in Sao Paulo, Brazil; Cairo, Egypt or Boston in the US. freeDimensional (fD) is an international network connecting activists and art spaces. We provide resources and safe haven for oppressed activists and culture workers, facilitate knowledge-sharing among art spaces who actively participate in local community organizing, and engage the art world and mainstream media to heighten public awareness and influence policy change on critical issues. Our office is currently in Sao Paulo, Brazil and rotates within the network every two years.

fD's concept is rooted in the idea that community art spaces are local civil society spaces and therefore effective access points for social action and change. Since 2005, freeDimensional has placed activists and culture workers within residency programs around the world. We are currently in the process of developing many other ways to link resources in the art world with human rights activism in partnership with art spaces that make up the network. Whether you know us well already or have just met us, please visit our new and improved About fD page to find up-to-date information about our programs and services:
http://freedimensional.ning.com/page/about-fd

As the fD network grows, we are striving to better communicate our work and to make participation easy and non-exclusive. Afterall, fD only gets better as diverse art spaces from different places join the network and give depth and direction to our work. Over the past few months, we have been busy with the launch of a new website, which is a social networking platform. The goal of the site is to provide a platform of collaboration, public for those who want it (important for our partners who don't yet have websites of their own) - and private for those who want privacy. Using the new freeDimensional social networking platform is about spreading the word and connecting with a larger audience of creative people (and spaces) who care about social justice. We encourage you to explore our new site; make and update your profiles; and let us know if you need technical support. Remember to add a logo, photos, videos, blogs, and newsletters to your new profiles. The fD network is dynamic and energetic so we hope that these simple online tools and forms of engagement will encourage new partnerships and projects.
http://freedimensional.ning.com/page/get-involved

As always the fD staff is here to answer your questions, facilitate communications and develop new initiatives, so feel free to contact us with any questions or comments. If you have a technical question, contact Special Projects Coordinator, Arthur Bouie (Arthur@freedimensional.org) in New York. If you would like to update your contact information or require general membership support, please contact Administrative Coordinator, Gabriela de Luca (Gabriela@freedimensional.org) in Sao Paulo.

Sincerely,

Todd Lester
Founding Director
Todd@freedimensional.org