Creative Capital

Dread Scott

Dread Scott is an artist whose work illuminates the misery that society causes for so many people and it often addresses the heart, resilience, and ideals many have to withstand and challenge this.

He first received national attention as a student at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1989, President Bush Sr. declared his installation What is the Proper Way to Display a U.S. Flag? “disgraceful,” and the entire US Senate denounced the work when they passed legislation to “protect the flag.” As part of the popular effort opposing compulsory patriotism, he, along with three other protesters, burned flags on the steps of the US Capitol. This resulted in a Supreme Court case and a landmark decision.
In 1992, Dread was a fellow at the Whitney Independent Study Program. In 1995, he was awarded a Mid Atlantic\National Endowment for the Arts Regional Fellowship in Photography. In 2000, he participated in the Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue directed by Anna Deavere Smith at Harvard University.

His work has been exhibited at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, and the Robert Miller Gallery in New York, among other venues worldwide.