Hank

Willis

Thomas:

Civically

engaged

In Philadelphia, a massive Afro pick with a handle in the shape of a clenched fist stands as a monument to Black resilience. The sculpture, titled All Power to All People, is emblematic of the work of Hank Willis Thomas, a conceptual artist whose practice often subverts the iconography of pop culture and mass media to, as he likes to say, “re-right” history. With art in prominent public spaces like the Boston Common and downtown Brooklyn, Thomas embodies what civic engagement can look like for an artist looking to express the complexity of American society. For Freedoms, a collective he co-founded in 2016, has installed more than 500 artist-designed billboards around the country, which encourage people to vote and get involved in their communities. In October, Thomas unveiled a sculpture memorializing the enslaved people who built Davidson College in North Carolina. “The road to progress is always under construction.” Thomas told TIME in 2025. “We're trying to not go back.”