7. Art Matters Campaign – Barbara Kruger, 2012
Kruger 2012 Art Matters project had the feel of a political campaign and even had its own bus. The work went straight to the core of an issue close to Kruger’s heart: arts education. The UCLA professor has been quoted as saying “The place of the arts in the classroom is essential in encouraging invention, ambition, and an understanding of the importance and pleasures of living an examined life.” Kruger’s confrontational phrases addressed Los Angeles’ public head on, asking them to among other things, to “SUPPORT PUBLIC EDUCATION OR FACE CATASTROPHE.”